i spoke with apple retail chief angela ahrendts about amazon and other big tech companies and whetherse a long-term threat >> i don't think about it frequently i've read that they're investing and alalibaba's investing, goog even said they're going to invest billions and open up stores i have read that honestly, i think it's great, for the economy, i think it's great for employment and i think it reinforces the physical retail is not going away that there is a purpose. people want the human connection they want a place to pick up their products, et cetera. so i think it's -- i think the great news is, as you said, we're nearly 500 stores ahead of them the tenure of our employees is unbelievable we have an over 80% retention rate in america, alone so i think it will take them a little while to catch up. >> reporter: we also talked about a.i. and automation and the potential impact those kind of technologies could have on the retail industry, and i asked angela ahrendts whether her retail workforce should feel threatened or risked by these kind of technologies here's what she said >> i

i did have the chance to speak with apple retail chief angela ahrendts remember, one week from today will be available for pre-order and when apple does come into supply/demand balance, meaning when you can walk into that store and get your hands on that new iphone x, angela arndt is telling her retail sales force they shouldn't feel any pressure to upsell you to that ten and that's because she says there's an iphone for everybody. >> of course you want those fans to have the latest and greatest, but everybody is at a different phase of their apple journey, if you will, and i think it's most important that we give you the thing that you need at the right time in your life that you need it if it happens to be the x, terrific, but if it's a young child, i would much prefer to have them have apple and then be able to come in and learn everything they can about that device and i think they will gradually go up to the others. >> now, some people might be surprised by that answer some might have assumed that apple would want you to be buying the highest priced phone in their iphone lineup

i also did talk to angela ahrendts about that new iphone x that's on the way and told me she's tellingey shouldn't feel pressured to upsell consumers to that specific new device. >> of course, you want those fans to have the latest, greatest, but everybody's at a different phase of their apple journey, if you will and i think it's most important that we give you the thing that you need at the right time in your life that you need it if it happens to be the x, terrific but if it's a young child, i'd much prefer just to have them have apple and then be able to come in and learn everything they can about that device and i think they'll gradually go up to the others. >> reporter: kelly, back to you. >> all right, joshua, thank you very much. josh lipton in chicago there guys, what do you think, real quickly, about this whole flagship strategy, this town square notion that apple's talking about? >> i think the stores definitely needed a refresh i was surprised they almost had 500 locations which actually makes them kind of a real footprint on the retail side i think b it does make sense not