In this video, wherein Fast Company talks to Ford CEO Alan Mulally, he says he wants Ford dealerships to feel like Apple stores. The headline on Fast Company's site reads, "Ford CEO Alan Mulally Wants Dealerships Like Apple Stores..." and that idea initially had my pretty excited, not because I care what Ford is doing, because it gave me an idea.

Doesn't everyone want an Apple store? Yes. Yes they do. 

If by everyone you mean every business who is interested in making money (which you gotta admit, sometimes seems like an iffy assumption to make about American car manufacturers. j/k.) and by Apple store you mean a place where people who are interested in your brand, your products, and the agenda your company sets forth can, nay will, come to simply interact with your brand.

The thing about the Apple store is that they are immensely popular with Apple people, and that energy draws people in like moths to a flame. Sure, now that they've got the iPod and the iPhone it's a lot easier to see, but it's been like that ever since Apple opened the very first one.

To Apple people the Apple store is like church...except better. After all, I don't know many people who will go to church just because they're nearby, but I do know people who do that with the Apple store. They have to check in, see what's new, see if there are any new products that go with the products they already own, or ogle the piece of equipment that they want but can't justify. [ Full disclosure, I used to go in and drool over the 30" Cinema Displays...until I bought one.;-) ]

Even better, come people even go to the Apple store just to look around, but then stay and SELL COMPUTERS. I know that, in the last year, I personally have helped a half dozen people, that I don't know, decide to buy an iMac or a MacBook. How? Easy. I answered a question or two that someone was wondering aloud to no one, or to the Apple employee who didn't know, or who couldn't answer honestly. Why? Because I'm an Apple person. I'm a member of this community. It's my duty to pass my knowledge, my passion, and Mac OS onto another generation.

Car companies should be intimately familiar with this. They used to have this. Whole families used to be Ford or Chevy families. People drag-raced and even came to blows (given enough alcohol) over which was better. I know people who love "the bowtie." This love was passed from father to son. Now, not so much. Now our fathers buy a Chevy Suburban only to find that it's not much more than a minivan, while their sons buy Subarus (another brand I love deeply) and pass that love on.

So, while I applaud Mr. Mulally for seeing that someone is doing this retail thing right, I would caution him to think about what they are doing right and how to apply it to Ford. If he's serious, and he thinks he can achieve this, then that's awesome, but if it's just a lot of "me-too" joinerism, then it'll fail miserably.

Like they say, "Build it, and they will come." but, in this case, it would be cars and trucks worth getting excited about, it would be a community of passionate advocates, it would be a brand worth interacting with beyond the time you spend thinking about buying a new car. Once you have it, then you can have dealerships that feel like Apple Stores.