Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts this week announced that the iPhone maker's upcoming store along the Chicago River opens Friday, October 20.

apple store chicago river

Apple's new Chicago River store via MacRumors reader David Sexton

The two-floor store will be located on North Michigan Avenue, near the historic Michigan Avenue Bridge, along the river's north bank. The flagship location will feature glass walls and a carbon fiber roof, which at one point had a white Apple logo on it, making it look like a giant MacBook Air when viewed from above.

Apple has removed its logo from the roof as of late August, and it's unclear if it will be added back at some point.

The store was designed by Apple's longtime architectural partner Foster + Partners, and pays homage to architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style homes in Chicago. Based on plans from 2015, the building spans 20,000 square feet and replaces a vacant food court. Construction has been ongoing for over a year.


A lengthy staircase leads from street level to a walkway in front of the store. The building will also be accessible via elevator.

Ahrendts, speaking at Apple's first-ever event at the Steve Jobs Theater on Tuesday, also said Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan will reopen late next year. She said the glass cube at street level will eventually be reinstalled, and the lower level will be greatly expanded with a new design.

Ahrendts said Apple's retail stores collectively welcome over 500 million visitors per year. Apple has 497 stores around the world.

Apple's nearby store at 679 North Michigan Avenue opened in July 2003. It will permanently close on October 20.

Update: Apple has announced that its retail store at The Summit in Reno, Nevada will be relocating to a new location within the shopping center on Saturday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. local time. The new location will presumably be larger and updated with Apple's newer store design. (Thanks, Storeteller!)

Top Rated Comments

jmgregory1 Avatar
96 months ago
Shouldn't you be calling them "Town Squares" instead of "Stores" now?
I hate that name. It's such a consulting business / private equity owned business term, that follows with "town hall meetings". I get that Angela is trying to better describe the fact that Apple is more than just a retailer, but they're definitely not a town and their stores, which is what they are, are not town squares.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike Oxard Avatar
96 months ago
Shouldn't you be calling them "Town Squares" instead of "Stores" now?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rojaaemon Avatar
96 months ago
Shouldn't you be calling them "Town Squares" instead of "Stores" now?
Yeah, "We actually don't call them stores anymore, we call them town squares, because they're gathering places."

So, better put in a water fountain or a bar or something. And I ain't sittin' long on those wood boxes! Seriously, there are more comfortable "gathering places" in Singapore International baggage claim area than in any Apple TS I've been in.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
96 months ago
Shouldn't you be calling them "Town Squares" instead of "Stores" now?
It's quite possible you are being sarcastic, but if not, they are still stores fundamentally. "Town Squares" just sounds like lame marketing to me.

Can you already call something iconic when yet not even opened or not having some history at all? Well, seems so...looking great nevertheless.
Fair point. I've changed Iconic to Beautiful in the headline.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
96 months ago
It's a beautiful store, but that segment of the keynote was pretentious and cringy
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asarien Avatar
96 months ago
It's great seeing how far architectural aesthetics has come. Apple Stores couldn't look more metallic and closed off when they first opened 16 years ago.

This environment is beautiful, and the Milan "store" looks even more impressive.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...