the beatles apple boutique

The Apple shop was a retail store that opened on 7 December 1967, located in a building on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street, Marylebone, London, and that closed on 30 June 1968. The shop was one of the first business ventures made by The Beatles‘ fledgling Apple Corps.

The concept of the shop was that everything in it was for sale. The aim, as described by Paul McCartney, was to create “a beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things”. In practice, the stock was overwhelmingly fashion garments and accessories. John Lennon vetoed the use of the word “boutique”, but the venture has come to be popularly called the “Apple Boutique”. WIKI

Groovy 1960s opening party for Apple – a Beatles Boutique in London. Lots of famous guests including George Harrison and John Lennon, Cilla Black , Kenneth Tynan. Fabulous psychedelic fashions and hippy designs.

The Fool – The Fool (1969)

Full Album – Tracks: 1. Fly 2. Voice on the Wind 3. Rainbow Man 4. Cry for Me 5. No One Will Ever Know 6. Reincarnation 7. Hello Little Sister 8. Keep on Pushin’ 9. Inside Your Mind 10. Lay It Down

Sept 1967 – Beatles wives Pattie Harrison, Cynthia Lennon & Maureen Starkey posing with Jenny Boyd in a stunning portrait taken by Ronald Traeger in fashions designed by The Fool for the soon to open Apple Boutique.

1968/69. Mod n’ thick corduroy jacket from the Beatles own retail store, The Apple Boutique in England. The jacket has a lining that pictures the cartoon Beatles (from the ABC series) on the inside. Made by Ninth Street East Ltd. (the label is sewn inside). This is a men’s size 40 (Medium). EX.

from the 1968 film “Hot Millions” which provides one of the few rare filmed glimpses inside of the Beatles owned and operated Apple Boutique on Baker Street in London.

REALLY interesting & amusing FACTS & FIGURES after the jump!:

FACTS & FIGURES :

•John Lyndon, head of Apple Retail, warns The Fool that they will be excluded from all clothing work rooms if they do not stop taking garments without payment (Schultheiss 205).

•John: Anyway, Yoko came up with the idea of giving all the Apple stuff away (McCabe/Schonfeld p. 106. For the Record).

•Paul on the closing of the boutique: “Our main business is entertainment, communication. Apple is mainly concerned with fun, not frocks. We want to devout all our energies to records, films, and our electronic adventures. We had to refocus”.

•All of The Beatles left with some of the best clothes[from the boutique's free giveaway], except for Ringo Starr, who told Rolling Stone magazine that he couldn’t find anything in his size (Granados, S. Those Were the Days. p. 48).

•Paul: “Originally, the shops were intended to be something else, but they became like all the boutiques in London. They just weren’t our thingy. The staff will get three weeks pay but if they wish they’ll be absorbed into the rest of Apple. Everyone will be taken care of”.

•Paul said that Apple tailoring isn’t closing down and they are leaving their investment because “we have a moral and personal obligation to our partner, John Crittle, who is now in sole control”.

•Apple Boutique Press Release (Paul): “We decided to close down our Baker street shop yesterday and instead of putting up a sign saying ‘Business Will Be Resumed as Soon as Possible’ and then auction off the goods, we decided to give them away. The shops were doing fine and making a nice profit on turnover. So far the biggest loss is in giving things away. But we did that deliberately. We came into the shops by the tradesman’s entrance but we’re leaving by the front door”.

•To their credit, The Fool were undeniably creative, even if they were expensive; at one point going on a ten-day shopping expedition in Morocco for items for Apple (Flippo, p. 250).

•Harold TIllman was a designer who made a see-through chiffon tuxedo. It seemed fashionable in the summer of 1967 but not so the following winter. Most were never sold. (Granados, M. Those Were the Days. p. 22).

•To compliment the Apple Boutique, Apple Retail set up a second operation called Apple Tailoring (Civil and Theatrical) in a shop at 161 King’s Road. Established on 2 February 1968 and officially opened on 23 May. The shop was a partnership with John Crittle, the highly respected designer, who was a director of the enterprise along with Apple’s Neil Aspinall and Apple accountant Stephen Maltz (Granados, M. Those Were the Days. p. 23).

Credit/Debit Figures:

•The £10,000 in merchandise that was given away by the boutique was still subject to purchase tax laws by the Inland Revenue Service.

•The Boutique paid The Fool £100,000 for the store- front design and displays.

•In seven months the Boutique lost a reported £200,000 ($2.5 million in ’99).

•On July 30 ’68 the cashiers at Apple Boutique began to inform customers that they would not be charged for the merchandise they select. The Boutique also gave away merchandise to the public on July 31 before closing (Schultheiss 215).