From the experiences described, there’s a sense that corporate threw a bunch of ideas at district managers (or whatever their hierarchy is) without follow-through of trying to identify pinch points and develop a process to correct them.

It might be an issue of mindset within the company. The problems described seem regional (overcrowded stores, shady/burnt-out retail staff in some areas; positive experiences in others) that each need a separate approach but are lumped together in Apple’s one-size-fits-all approach to everything.

I predict that Apple will close their retail stores by the end of the decade, citing improved logistics). Apple products will continue to be sold at third-party retailers until the company folds or pivots in another 10 years.

I don’t think so, unless they can’t get the experience quality issue under control and it starts damaging the brand. The stores serve an outreach component that 3rd party retailers can’t. As much as I hate them, the classes they host are always well attended and I’m pretty sure they have a small business coordinator that makes sales that won’t happen otherwise. They remain a major differentiation point versus Android to, enabling the forever tolerance of AAPLs insane margins.