A new report out of Germany has revealed some interesting details about a deal that looks to have gone bad between the city of Stuttgart and Apple. The plan would have seen the tech giant plant its first store in the capital city, and was even willing to shell out a number in the three-digit millions, to create a one-of-a-kind store in an abandoned WWII bunker.

While Apple is known for the devices so many of us couldn’t live without, their attention to design and function doesn’t stop with their products. Since opening their first retail store in 2001, there are now 488 Apple Stores in 20 countries, and some of their designs have matched, or even surpassed, the wow factor of the products they sell.

Some of Apple’s most iconic stores look bare and empty from the outside as the stores themselves are housed underground. New York City, China and Istanbul all are home to this famous design, but Stuttgart officials weren’t as keen to the idea of the next underground Apple attraction existing under the Stuttgarter Market Square, right outside city hall.

Apple had its eye’s on an abandoned WWII bunker system that was later home to a hotel from 1945 to 1985. Little has been done with the space since, and in 1995, an architectural competition was launched to hopefully find a plan that would turn the space around. The winning design by Neugebauer + Roesch Architect was to create a 31 meter-long and 14 meter-high all glass enclosure above ground that would then lead to retail stores underneath where the bunker/hotel once stood. The plan never came to be as it was brushed off by the city due to a lack of interest.

If any company has what it takes to make that long-held dream a reality, it would be Apple. Unfortunately the city’s interest level in the space hasn’t changed much in the 20-plus years that have passed since the first revitalization plans were presented. Most cities would love to make bank with a payday in the three-digit millions that would also lead to a boost in tourism, but for now it looks as if Apple will need to keep digging for a spot in Stuttgart.

Source: germanpulse