World of Apple

Apple Store Sainte-Catherine will open in Montreal this Friday at 5.00pm

As well as opening its first store in South Carolina and its fifth in Arizona.

Apple today announced that the Apple Store Saint-Catherine will open on Friday July 25 at 5.00pm. The two story Apple store is said to have a $1.2 million annual lease and have a plot of around 8,000 square feet.

Apple Store, King Street will represent the first retail store in South Carolina and Apple Store, Arrowhead will be Arizona’s fifth, both open on Saturday July 26 at 10.00am local time.

Apple is set to open its Liverpool One Apple Store in the UK this coming weekend.

The Apple store situated in the Liverpool One shopping development will open this Saturday at 9am.

Join us for the Grand Opening and get the chance to win a Digital Lifestyle Collection that includes a black MacBook and a silver iPod nano. The first 1,000 people through the doors will receive a free Apple T-shirt.

The Apple store represents the first for Liverpool, a city with over 800,000 residents.

Apple is set to open its newest Apple store in Leicester on September 4 this year.

The store which will reportedly take up 577 square metres will be located in the Highcross shopping development in Leicester, UK.

Apple is continues recruiting staff for stores in Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol and White City, London.

On Thursday Apple showed off its first Apple Store in China to the media. The store which is situated in a new retail development known as the Village at Sanlitun Northeast of Beijing.

Beijing Apple Store | Courtesy of WSJ China

The Wall Street Journal has posted some pictures from the media opening day and as always ifoAppleStore is offering complete coverage of the store opening.

“This is the first of many stores we will open in China,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, in remarks at the store. He later added that Apple will open stores “in Beijing, in Shanghai and beyond,” and confirmed that another store will open in Beijing’s Qianmen area, a shopping street south of Tiananmen Square that has been renovated ahead of the Olympic Games, which begin next month.

Apple has today posted guidelines on what to bring and how to get your hands on an iPhone 3G this coming Friday.

The Apple Retail Store is the perfect place to get your iPhone 3G. When you arrive, a Concierge in an orange shirt will direct you to the iPhone bay where you can take advantage of our free Personal Setup. A Specialist will help you choose an iPhone 3G, review coverage maps, select a rate plan, and — best of all — have your new iPhone 3G ready to make calls, browse the web, and receive email right on the spot.

As with in the UK, Apple notes that stock of the iPhone is limited,

iPhone 3G will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and sales will start at 8:00 a.m. Arrive early to get in line as daily quantities are limited by stock on hand.

In order to purchase and activate an iPhone 3G, you will need:

• Credit card
• Social security number
• Valid, government-issued photo ID
• Your current wireless account number and password or PIN (if you’re new to AT&T)

Apple reminds users to sync their current iPhone one last time before purchasing a new iPhone 3G.

Apple also offers advice to business customers wishing to sign-up for an iPhone 3G:

Current and new iPhone users who now receive or will receive service under a corporate account and wish to purchase iPhone 3G need to contact AT&T directly. Also, if you want your Phone to access your business email account, check with your IT manager first.

Image courtesy of Gizmodo.com

Mac Rumors reports that AT&T stores are due to get the displays tomorrow:

Beginning July 8th you will receive the new iPhone 3G demo devices at your store to enhance your sales process. These devices will be used the same as your 2G demo devices in your sales process but now you can demonstrate the additional capabilities of the iPhone 3G including the App Store

Apple Stores in the US are rumoured to be opening at 8am to mirror AT&T stores, iPhones will be activated within Apple stores and cannot be paid for with cash.

It should also be noted that iTunes 7.7 which is required for iPhone activation should be released sometime Tuesday, just in time for the New Zealand iPhone launch.

Photo courtesy of MacPlus.net

Today MacPlus.net has posted photos of the interior of the future three-level store including the glass staircase, back-lit wall graphics and stainless steel interior panels.

Shanghai Daily reported today that Apple will open two new retail stores in Beijing prior to the Olympics which kick off in August.

The first store will open in the Sanlitun area of the city which is said to be a fashionable bar district. According to an industry insider the three-story Apple store will open its doors on July 19.

The second Apple store will reportedly open in Beijing during the Olympics.

AppleInsider is reporting on a 3-page document that has been distributed to Apple retail and sales personnel. The document outlines 17 common questions that Apple retail staff may have to face during the weeks leading up to July 11th. Apple also urges employees not to “peculate beyond the information that is public today”.

“You may not place iPhone 3G on hold for anyone. No exceptions. Do not create a waitlist,” explains the document and continues, “It is critical that all stores follow the same process to ensure every customer has an equal and fair opportunity to purchase a phone.”

Employees are being encouraged to call customers who have reserved an iPhone Personal Shopping session on or after July 11th and inform them that Personal Shopping sessions won’t apply to the iPhone 3G.

Employees are being told to say that they “don’t have any information regarding upgrades.”

When asked particular questions regarding corporate and business plans, Apple employees should reply “If your business uses a corporate plan, sometimes called a CRU or IRU plan, you will need to go to an AT&T store to purchase the iPhone 3G for your employees”.

Finally when questioned on iPod touch pricing and whether the unit price will be lowered to match the iPhone, retail employees should reply, “Not that I am aware of”.

With the opening of Australia’s first Apple Store today it struck me that Apple seems confused about the size of its stores. Reading an article on The Age I noted that Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson appeared to tell reporters at the media opening of the Sydney store that it was the second largest Apple store in the world, behind London’s Regent Street.

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