When I first heard that Apple was leaving the Palisades Mall my first thoughts were that maybe they wanted to lower their rent, or downsize, or that they just had enough of the landlords at the Palisades.  So when I needed to pick up my new Macbook Pro with Retina display, I was very excited to check out the new store.  Well....quite simply, I was blown away!

There is an expression in commercial real estate that describes a space that is just four walls and not much else....it's called a "plain vanilla box".  Well Apple takes that expression and turns it on it's head.  Their philosophy of keeping it clean, simple, and elegant is marketing genius.   Looking around the store I noticed that all they really have there are about a dozen wooden tables and a few shelves.  The brilliant and colorful displays on the walls, the bright blue shirt techs, and all their iPads, Macbooks, and iPhones creates a unique retail experience that makes you think that you're in the smartest, coolest, hippest place on earth.  You just want to be there and join in on the community that is Apple. 
An insider explained to me that the Palisades Mall wasn't treating Apple very well, and that Apple wanted to weed out all the stragglers and tire kickers that you would get in a mall.  Now being a destination store, this new location will attract a much more qualified customer.  In other words, if you're parking your car and walking into that new store, you really want to be there.  The whole experience at an Apple store is a lesson in marketing brilliance.  Keep it simple and deliver a beautiful product.  That is how they have become the most profitable company on the planet.  
The shopping experience at the new shops at Nanuet is something Nanuet and Rockland really needed.  We all may miss the old mall, however, what Simon Properties created was just genius.  Instead of competing with the Palisades Mall head to head with another indoor mall, they chose a completely different concept.  An outdoor, shopping village.  So unless it's freezing out or we're having a Nor'Easter, you will probably prefer to walk around the fresh outdoors and shop at your favorite retailer.   This new retail village has raised Nanuet up from the ashes of the old mall and put them back up on the pedestal as the retail hub of Rockland. 
With all their high end tenants including Regal Cinemas, Banana Republic, The Gap, Bath and Body works, Michael Kors, Victoria's Secret, Lush, Bonefish Grill, PJ Chang's, Fairway, 24 Hour Fitness, J.Crew, Sephora, Zinburger, and of course the old veterans Macy's and Sears, the new shops at Nanuet will be wildly successful.
I'm sure the Palisades Mall misses their "coolest store on earth" tenant.  You can tell that the shops at Nanuet have gotten under their skin by all the recent remodeling going on at the Palisades. For Apple it's just too little too late.  They have moved on to greener pastures.
So Kudos to Apple for their bold new move, Simon Properties for reinventing themselves, and to Nanuet for making this happen.