Apple Closes All Retail Stores in Italy Due to Coronavirus [Updated]

Apple is closing all of its retail stores in Italy as the coronavirus outbreak in the country continues to spread, with the stores set to be shuttered as of March 12.

applestoreitalycoronavirus
Apple's website for Italian stores says that due to precautionary health measures currently in force, retail locations will remain closed until a later date. Italian customers are instructed to get online support for their devices.

The decision to close all Apple Stores in the country comes following a national quarantine enacted by the Italian government. People in Italy are required to stay in their homes except in situations of necessity for work and health circumstances.

All of the Apple Stores will be closed for the rest of the week, and it is not clear when they will reopen. Italy's mandatory quarantine will last through April 3, 2020.

Apple had previously closed stores in the most widely affected areas in Italy and was operating on reduced hours in some other locations. More than 12,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus in Italy, and there have been over 800 deaths.

Update: Apple has provided a statement on the store closures to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman: "As we support the work to contain and manage the spread of COVID-19, our priority remains the health and safety of everyone in the communities we serve. With that in mind, our stores in Italy will be closed until further notice. We understand customers may need support from Apple during this challenging time and we'll ensure our online and phone support, as well as online store, remain open for customers. We will closely monitor the situation and look forward to reopening our stores as soon as possible."

Update 2: Italy has ordered the closure of all stores in the country except for grocery stores and pharmacies.

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Top Rated Comments

Stella Avatar
66 months ago
Hope these employees still get paid while the stores are closed, I expect most of these are living pay cheque to cheque with little savings. Apple can certainly afford to keep paying them during this time.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmgregory1 Avatar
66 months ago
Although Apple Stores closing isn’t going to be a significant burden on anyone, imagine what it will be like if / when grocery stores and pharmacies start closing. Any kind of widespread store closings will not only have an immediate effect on those who rely on them for food and medicine, but there will be a ripple effect back to manufacturers supplying retail, shipping companies, etc.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jerryk Avatar
66 months ago

It's better to have living potential customers than dead ones who can't purchase Apple products.

Time to think strategic. If one owns Apple stock, just hang on.
Or buy some more stock. The company fundamentals and structure are good and this event will pass. Looking to buy some stock at a discount.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
66 months ago

Yeah, this “article” is misleading, surprisingly. Apple did it because they were forced to, not out of the goodness of their heart.
That’s not quite true (as far as we know). Apple’s announcement preceded the government announcement by several hours. We don’t know for sure whether Apple knew it was coming or not, but if other businesses knew they didn’t also make similar announcements, so there’s at least a good chance one had nothing to do with the other.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
itsmilo Avatar
66 months ago
For the love of god please refrain from posting more „this isn’t even serious“ stuff
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
66 months ago
ALL stores in italy other than pharmacies, food markets, and banks, are now closed by law.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)