Apple is closing its concession dedicated to smartwatches inside Selfridges.
The Apple Watch space occupies a large corner plot on the ground floor of Selfridges’ Wonder Room, adjacent to the luxury watch space run by The Watch Gallery.
Apple opened its concession in 2015, accompanied by a multi-million pound window promotion facing onto Oxford Street, the busiest retail thoroughfare in London.
Selfridges is midway through a £300 million investment to upgrade and improve the whole department store.
In addition, The Watch Gallery is refurbishing its luxury watch space, which will increase in size by 30% when completed later this month.
The Watch Gallery will not be taking over the area vacated by Apple Watch. The corner plot is expected to be used for luxury accessory brands such as Dior and Fendi for the rest of this year.
As well as closing its Selfridges concession, Apple is also rumoured to be leaving Galleries Lafayette, an upmarket department store chain in France that currently sells its smartwatches.
Apple originally aimed to position its Watch as a fashion accessory, courting leading fashion editors and taking space in major fashion stores like Galleries Lafayette and Selfridges. Since the launch of Series 2, the Apple Watch marketing has been directed more at the sports and fitness audience.
