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).

 

The full name of Apple's second boutique store was Apple Tailoring (Civil and Theatrical). It was situated at 161 King's Road, and was run by 25-year-old Australian designer John Crittle.

The Beatles' dress sense is quietening down now, like everyone else. They all went mad last year, but now they're all coming back to a normal way of life. We won't get teenyboppers here, because prices will be too high for them. We're pushing velvet jackets and the regency look, although The Beatles put forward plenty of suggestions. They have pretty far ahead ideas, actually. We're catering mainly for pop groups, personalities, and turned-on swingers. The teenagers seem too frightened to come in, even though they know this is The Beatles' place. Maybe it's because the place is too elegant and too expensive.

The premises were shared with another clothing company, Dandy Fashions (sometimes spelt Dandie), which had opened in 1966. Apple Corps' Neil Aspinall and company accountant Stephen Maltz became directors of Dandy as part of its transformation into Apple Tailoring.

The basement also housed a hairdressing salon financed by Apple and run by Leslie Cavendish, The Beatles' hair stylist.

Apple Tailoring lasted longer than the Baker Street boutique, but it too closed in 1968. The Beatles decided to withdraw from high street commerce and gave the business and all stock to Crittle.

Three days after their relationship began, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared in public for the first time, for the lunchtime launch party and press conference for Apple Tailoring (Civil and Theatrical), the second boutique from Apple Corps.

It took place at Club Dell'Aretusa, at 107 King's Road, Chelsea, London. Also present at the launch were George Harrison and his wife Pattie, and a number of other celebrities.

We're still involved in a hectic recording scene at the moment, although I've spent this week at the office. All that paperwork!

After the party Lennon and Ono walked the short distance to the new Apple Tailoring shop, at 161 King's Road, for the benefit of photographers. The boutique opened the following day.