Apple store in Geneva prepares for end of month opening

Now a third store is ready to open on September 13 at 10.00am in Chadstone.

Moving back to Europe, ifoAppleStore is reporting that the first Apple store is due to open at the end of September in Geneva. The store recently received a new black facade that read “Bientôt ouvert,” meaning, “Opening soon”.

ifoAppleStore is also noting that Switzerland’s second Apple store is nearing completion in Zurich at the Glattzentrum shopping mall northeast of downtown.

“We have these fake queues at front of 20 stores around the country to drum up interest in the iPhone,” a spokesman said.

Apple sold about one million of the new iPhone models in the United States around the July launch weekend, but buyers in Poland may be reluctant to pay hefty monthly charges.

There were no queues at T-Mobile’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Era stores, which will also due to launch the iPhone on Friday.

Fake lines (or any lines) have not formed in front of local T-Mobile stores. Good luck to those who are looking forward to buying an iPhone in their home country!

Curbed website reports that The SoHo Alliance has written for help from the Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer, saying that, “No bar, nightclub or construction site comes close to ruining continually our quality-of-life like Apple SoHo has”.

Alliance director Sean Sweeney said the “final straw” was Tuesday August 12th when the Jonas Brothers played at the Apple Store attracting “thousands of young teenage girls who screamed incessantly”.

Sweeney also explained acts of “irresponsible corporate behavior” by Apple, such as night construction without a permit, and “Apple employees during their breaks lounging, eating, smoking, littering–in effect trespassing–on nearby people’s stoops”.

Sweeney is looking for a solution to the issues from the borough’s president.

Image courtesy of MacCheech

Apple Store, Sainte-Catherine
1321 Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest
Montréal,
Quebec,
H3G 1P7

Photos of opening available from MacCheech.

Your favorite Apple Retail Store is making it easier and more convenient to purchase an iPhone 3G. All stores will now open at 8:00 a.m. every day but Sunday and, to accommodate demand, we’re adding staff to help you get up and running as quickly as possible.

While standing in line for the iPhone 3G store staff will “prequalify” you which will involve things like administrative paperwork and credit checks. If you pass “prequalification” then you will receive a ticket for an iPhone 3G which can either be redeemed on the spot or before 6pm that day (4pm Sunday)

Apple also recommends checking iPhone availability using the iPhone Availability checker which updates every evening after 9pm.

Image courtesy of Elliot Norton

The Liverpool One shopping centre is yet to fully open but a healthy crowd turned out to greet Apple’s newest UK Apple Store.

Apple Store, Liverpool One
Unit 95, Paradise Street (West)
Liverpool One Shopping Centre
Liverpool
L1 8JF

Photos of opening available from Elliot Norton.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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”.

Thinking this was some kind of misunderstanding on behalf of the reporter I sought confirmation, didn’t take long to find another source of the statistic.

Although exact figures on the sizes of Apple stores are hard to come by, rough estimations would suggest that Australia’s first store is not the second largest in the world, in fact far from it.

The benchmark for Apple stores appears to be London’s Regent Street store which was expanded in size at the end of 2006, in the press release that followed Apple stated that the store was over 28,000 square feet but didn’t say how much over.

More recently Apple opened the Boylston Street Apple store in Boston, at the time stating it to be U.S’s largest Apple store and only trailing behind Regent Street. This stirred interest as the physical plot measurement for the Boston store is only 6,384 square feet, making the three story store only 19,152 s.f. at a stretch, we have to account for the size of walls, storage rooms and the staircase.

Elsewhere in America you have the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York weighing in at around 20,000 s.f., the SoHo New York which is said to be 21,000 s.f. and we can hardly forget the most recent New York store in the Meatpacking district; the West 14th Street Apple store is estimated to be around 30,000 square feet although no official figures are available to back this up.

America also boasts the Chicago Apple store on North Michigan Avenue which is stated to be 24,000 square feet.

So now we know this, how does the Sydney Apple store compare?

According to official plans for the store the estimated square footage is 4,800 per floor, over three floors that is only 14,400 square feet.

Lets look at that in an easy to digest list:

• 1. Regent Street Apple store, London - 28,000 square feet
• 1. West 14th Street Apple store, New York - 30,000 square feet (estimated figure)
• 2. North Michigan Avenue Apple Store, Chicago - 24,000 square feet
• 3. SoHo Apple store, New York - 21,000 square feet
• 4. Fifth Avenue Apple store, New York - 20,000 square feet
• 5. Ginza Apple store, Tokyo - 20,000 square feet
• 6. Boylston Street Apple store, Boston - 19,152 square feet
• 7. Sydney Apple store, Sydney - 14,400 square feet

Either my figures are really far off the mark or somebody at Apple is lacking in Maths 101.

I have contacted Apple PR for further information but no doubt they’ll refuse.

Store sizes sourced from ifoAppleStore.com, backed up with some Google research.

Image courtesy of http://www.joshhillphotography.com/

The Apple Store Sydney has more than 80 Macs and 60 iPods available for customers to experience hands-on, as well as an incredible range of third party products. The store’s knowledgeable staff includes more than 125 locally hired Specialists, Creatives and Geniuses who are ready to share their expertise and offer customers personalised instruction on everything from getting started with a Mac to building their own web page, creating a podcast or making a digital movie.

The Apple Store Sydney is located at 367 George Street, one block North of the Queen Victoria Building.

Nearly 350 million people have visited Apple retail stores since they opened in May 2001. Apple now operates 215 retail stores in six countries including Australia, the US, UK, Japan, Canada and Italy.

The store situated on the corner of George and King Street in Sydney occupies three stories and 14,370 square feet.

The first 2,500 customers through the door will receive limited edition t-shirts.

Please note we will be temporarily closed Thursday, May 29 at 3:00 p.m. and will reopen Friday, May 30 at 9:00 a.m. During this time, please visit one of our other two Manhattan locations.

According to Mac Rumors employees are telling passers by that a commercial is being filmed at the location and according to their sources Apple is filming a commercial for the upcoming 3G iPhone.

Image courtesy of Flickr user paulmonkeypaul

Image Courtesy of ifoAppleStore.com

ifoAppleStore posts photos of the exterior display which teases passers by with the message “Drop in soon, Apple Store, Sydney.” To the left of the message is a swirl of blue iPod nanos.

The store which is located on the corner of George and King is the first official Apple Store to open Australia, the flagship store is said to be 14,370 square feet in size.

The Apple Store is expected to open sometime in June, possibly coinciding with a launch of the iPhone.

ifoAppleStore is offering fantastic post-event coverage and many videos have been posted on YouTube (see below).

ifo has pointed out a particular interesting piece of data about the stores Genius Bar. The Boylston Street Store Genius Bar is capable of 1,000 appointments per 15-hour week according to in-store promo material.

That equates to 67 appointments an hour over the stores 15 hour day. The Genius Bar has 17 stools so each stool would have 4 appointments per hour. It appears that Apple expects each Genius Bar appointment to take a mere 15 minutes.

Image courtesy of Flickr

Apple will be giving away “limited edition” T-Shirts and “other surprises” at the store opening.

Every Apple product is available for you to get to know and test-drive at the Apple Store. And the top floor is dedicated entirely to programs, support, and services. It’s home to the Genius Bar, One-to-One personal training and free one-hour workshops to get the most out of your Apple products. Come early and be among the first to experience what the Apple Store is all about.

Apple is apparently claiming the Boston Apple Store to be the largest in the U.S., trailing only behind the mammoth Regent Street Store in London. The claim comes as a surprise to some as the physical measurements of the plot are only 6,384 square feet, making the three story store only 19,152 s.f. a little below the 20,000 s.f. Fifth Avenue Store in New York.

ifoAppleStore.com is as always offering excellent coverage of the Store opening.

Image courtesy of Flickr user BostonCityWalk.

Gizmodo reports that the store will handle 10 times the average foot traffic of a normal Apple Store.

“According to a store employee, it’s a good thing Boylston Street is so big: Apple estimates 1,500-2000 customers/hour will visit — more than 10 times the 160/hour that the average store gets,” reports Gizmodo. “It’s something else inferiority-complex ravaged Bostonians can hold over New York.”

Although unconfirmed, sources have suggested to World of Apple that the Apple Store could open on either May 16th or 23rd.

Although recruiting has just begun the Apple store is expected to open in November 2008.

Today the Grand Arcade Apple Store opened in Cambridge, UK.

World of Apple reader Pete has been kind enough to send over some photos of the opening of the new Apple Store.

View the photos here.

Apple will open its Cherry Hill (NJ) Apple Store this coming Saturday.

The Store will open at 10.00am and will give away commemorative T-Shirts to the first 1000 through the doors.

Store Targeted for East of England

The city of Leicester in the east of the UK is set to receive a much need Apple Store.

The Store will be situated inside a new development called the Highcross Leicester which will open on September 4th.

The store is expected to open at the same time.

The Store which is situated in the Grande Arcade will open on March 27th at 10.00am.

The Store opening coincides with the opening of the shopping centre itself.

The performance which will take place on Wednesday 26 March will coincide with the bands album release(iTunes link).

Attendance will be extremely limited - just 450 people will be able to watch the band perform, with attendance limited to chosen fan club members and competition winners.

The performance will be available as a video afterwards on iTunes.

LDP Business reports on Apple’s plan to open a “superstore” in the Liverpool One shopping complex. The article also notes that the land owner Grosvenor have “kept the news under wraps for months”.

Apple has recently begun seeking staff for the Liverpool store.

“If you’re looking for a rewarding environment in which to build your career using your special skills and talents, and if working at Apple has always been your dream job, you might just be one of the passionate individuals we’re looking for,” Apple’s recruitment website states.

Apple is reportedly leasing the building from Capital and Countries (CapCo).

“This will be one of the biggest lettings Covent Garden has ever achieved and at a very high rent.” Stated one source.

Apple also plans to open two stores in Milan, Italy. SetteB.IT reports that Senior Vice President of Retail, Ron Johnson announced during yesterdays shareholders meeting that Apple plans to open one store near the Piazza Duomo in the city centre and another along the Corso Buenos Aires.

When asked about why Apple didn’t situate its first Italian Apple Store in the centre of Rome the exec said “The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City was cheaper than an Apple Store in via del Corso in Rome.”

Delays forced this prediction towards the end of 2007; but the store is yet to open. ifoAppleStore is reporting that mis-sized glass has been the crux of the issue.

The Midsummer Place Apple Store in Milton Keynes is expected to open on Saturday March 1 2008.

[Update - 26/02/2008 11.30 GMT] Apple has sent out a press release to accredited UK journalists confirming that the Milton Keynes Midsummer Place Apple Store will open to the public on Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 9.30am.

ifoAppleStore reports that Apple appears to be planning to open a new Apple Store in the Chadstone Shopping Centre situated in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

The word “Apple” has appeared on a white construction barrier and the original tipster notes that an Apple reseller is directly below.

MacTalk notes that shopping centre management confirmed the Apple store;

“Quotes from Apple and Chadstone management confirm the new store, planned to open in Feb 08, soon after the flagship store in Sydney,”

Apple invites UK and European media to view Macworld keynote live in London

During next weeks keynote presentation being held in Macworld San Francisco, Apple has invited members of the European media to BBC Television Centre for a live stream of the keynote.

Please join us at the BBC Television Centre, London, on January 15 at 5:00 p.m. for a special live satellite broadcast of Steve Jobs’ Keynote Address from Macworld San Francisco. writes the email.

Leeds to Host Apple Store

ifoAppleStore reports that the city of Leeds in the UK will be host to a new Apple Store in the future.

The city centre of Leeds is being renovated to include an additional 200,000 square-feet of upscale retail space including what appears to be an Apple Store.

ifo’s source appears to be a rendering of the development which appears to show an Apple Store.

Stevenote Bingo

On a light note, John Siracusa has posted his Macworld 2008 keynote bingo card.

Image courtesy of Racked.com

The Post reports that the building situated at 1981 Broadway on the northwest corner of West 67th Street is currently a Victoria Secret store. But Apple is planning to rip it down and build from scratch a high-profile hot spot that’s more to its liking.

The newspaper goes onto talk about how Apple “loves glass, rectangles and cubes,” and that the 8,500 foot, irregular shaped plot could perfectly fit some kind of classy glass structure.

“The sexy lingerie retailer’s parent, Limited Brands, has been trying to sublease the space for some time,” the newspaper stated. “In fact, two years ago, we heard that Apple was hot on that trail but apparently got sidetracked amid the permutations of creating its flagship store at the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue.”

Although no date was reported it would be expected that Apple aim to the complete the store ahead of next years shopping season.

ifoAppleStore offers a fantastic write up of the entire event, as well as some candid photography around the store of the grand opening and of the local area.

“The crowd of about 800 on the 14th St. sidewalk began to spill over onto 9th Avenue, and eventually led all the way west onto 15th Street. Crowds of passersby began to form about 5 p.m. as the crowd grew, as workers who were headed home noticed the crowd and stopped to watch and take pictures,” reports ifo.

“At 6 p.m. the security team motioned in the crowd with the admonition, “Slow…slow,” and we went inside to a deafening roar–clapping and yelling and music–to grab our T-shirts and poster tubes. Three stories above, staffers crowded the rail and rimmed the staircase to provide applause and excitement. The crowd mostly made for the third floor where you redeemed any prizes, or hung out on the ground floor. And then everyone spotted Mary J. Blige on the second floor, palling around with Whoopi Goodberg. They both signed autographs and Blige posed for photos,” reports Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore.

iPhone poster highlighting New York City Apple Stores given out an West 14th Street Apple Store opening

Allen continues, “By the time I left at 7:45 p.m. the line reached substantially west on 15th St. behind the store–I hand counted over 1,600 in line.”

The store is laid out in the following format;

• Ground Floor - MacBook Pros and MacBooks on tables with Mac Pro’s and iMacs flagging the walls.
• Second Floor - iPods, iPhone and accessories
• Third Floor - 45-foot genius bar, kids section, software shelving and some training tables.

“We are thrilled to open our third and largest store in Manhattan on West 14th Street,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail in a press release on Friday. “We think New Yorkers will love this stunning new location and the incredibly talented team we’ve assembled to make the Apple Store West 14th Street a place where people can shop, learn and truly be inspired.”

TheiLife.com is currently offering a video (Mirrored below) of the entire event as well as offering a write up of the prizes given out.

According to multiple sources including ifoAppleStore and TheiLife.com visitors to the store received a T-Shirt as well a poster tube which contained an iPhone poster (pictured left), on the cap of some poster tubes prizes were listed. Most won $10 iTunes gift cards but other prizes are reported as MacBooks, iMacs, iPod shuffles, and 16GB iPod touches.

Video below.

Apple has opened the following stores in fiscal year 2008:

• The Mall at Partridge Creek - Clinton Township, Michigan - opened 18/10
• Lakeside Shopping Centre, UK - opened 20/10
• San Tan Village - Gilbert, Arizona - opened 26/10
• Town Square Mall - Las Vegas, Nevada - opened 14/11
• 2125 Chestnut Street - San Francisco, California - opened 22/11
• Princesshay - Exeter, UK - opened 24/11
• West 14th Street - New York, NY - opened 7/12

Apple is yet to open its eleventh UK store in Milton Keynes which was widely expected to open on December 8th but has yet failed to do so.

AppleInsider reports that a further three UK stores are planned for 2008, one at the Westfield London mall, another in the Covent Garden area of London and finally one in an unconfirmed city in Northern England.

It has also been confirmed by retail chief Ron Johnson that Apple will open around 40 new stores in 2008 including two in Brazil and one in Mexico.

Apple also confirmed in October that it would open a store in China, prior to the start of the Olympics.

Gizmodo has posted exclusive pictures and video of Apple’s latest Apple Store which will open this coming Friday at 6.00PM.

ifoAppleStore has begun its usual wall-to-wall coverage of the opening.

Video after the jump.

The large store on the corner of 9th Avenue and 14th Street will be spread over two levels joined by an iconic glass staircase. The Apple Store will join the Fifth Avenue and SoHo Apple Stores to become the third store in New York, and is expected to share the architectural uniqueness of its siblings.

Racked.com has posted an image of the glass staircase as well as the store opening posters (mirrored below).

Glass staircase will be the main feature of the West 14th Street Apple Store

Apple Store, West 14th Street opening December 7

The special shopping event mirrors that of one held last year in following Americas traditional Black Friday sales.

Details on discounts will be available on the day of the sale.

The following discounts are available for Friday 23rd November only:

• iMac: $1148 ($51 off), $1398 ($101 off), $1698 ($101 off), $2198 ($101 off)
• MacBook: $1048 ($51 off), $1198 ($101 off), $1398 ($101 off)
• iPod classic: $228 ($21 off), $318 ($31 off)
• iPod nano: $138 ($11 off), $188 ($11 off)
• iPod shuffle: $68 ($11 off)
• Free engraving on iPods
• Airport Extreme Base Stations ($21 off)
• Wireless Mighty Mouse ($11 off)