Apple Store

Apple's retail store unit has been generating some news over the past few days, so we've put together a roundup of some of the more significant items to summarize the latest developments. - Apple opened its new Palo Alto store on Saturday. The new store replaces the company's previous downtown Palo Alto store that had typically been considered the company's "home store" and was occasionally...

With Apple's introduction of the fourth-generation iPad today, some recent purchasers of the third-generation model may be feeling somewhat disappointed that their new devices have been supplanted by an unexpectedly short upgrade cycle. CNET reports, however, that those who purchased their iPads within the past 30 days may be able to exchange their devices for new models at their local Apple...

Apple Retail Store customers will soon be able to pay for product in-store using the new Passbook feature of iOS 6, according to a report from 9to5Mac. It appears to be an expansion of the self-checkout option that was added to the Apple Store app last year.While Apple’s EasyPay software should be ready for Passbook this month, some sources noted that the current EasyPay hardware, at least at...

Reuters reports that a union representing roughly a quarter of Apple's retail employees in France has authorized a strike to protest working conditions at the company's stores. The strike is being timed to coincide with tomorrow's 8:00 AM iPhone 5 launch for maximum impact.Demands by the SUD union, which represents about a quarter of Apple Store employees, included the installation of water...

In support of the initial launch of the iPhone 5 this Friday, Apple has announced five new grand openings for its retail store chain. The first opening of this week will take place on Thursday, when the new Rio Shopping store in Valladolid, Spain opens its doors. The somewhat unusual Thursday opening stems from the fact that the brand-new Rio Shopping mall itself is opening on that date....

While several observers have noted shortages of Apple's current 27-inch iMac at resellers over the past several months, the tight supplies now appear to be increasingly affecting Apple's own retail stores. According to a survey of retail store stock availability through the "Personal Pickup" program at Apple's 249 U.S. locations, each of the two standard 27-inch iMac configurations is currently...

Earlier this month, we reported on several changes at Apple retail stores that were reportedly seeing some employees being laid off or seeing recent promotions being retracted, while other part-time employees were seeing their hours reduced significantly, in some cases to zero. Our report was followed several days later by an acknowledgement from Apple that the company had "messed up" in...

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been receiving reports that Apple has been laying off a number of recently-hired staff members at its retail stores. Most of the reports have been coming from Apple retail employees in the United Kingdom, but several of these reports claim that similar actions are taking place at stores around the world. We've also been receiving reports of long-term...

With a number of retailers and carriers beginning to drop prices on the iPhone as the introduction of Apple's next-generation hardware approaches, Apple has officially continued to maintain standard on-contract pricing of $199/$299/$399 for the iPhone 4S, $99 for the iPhone 4, and free for the iPhone 3GS. But a source has now revealed to MacRumors that Apple's retail stores have been given...

Apple today announced that its new Passeig de Gràcia retail store in Barcelona, Spain will officially open this Saturday, July 28 at 10:00 AM. The store has gained some notice for Apple's use of mosaics in the store's logo and construction barriers honoring the style of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, with the mosaics being made up of pieces of icons from Apple's iOS...

Apple closed the Apple Store SoHo, New York City's first Apple Retail Store, late last year for a renovation and expansion into the space formerly occupied by a United States Post Office.SoHo has grown significantly, gaining sales space for twice as many products, a new theater with extra seating for special events and workshops, NYC's first business-focused Briefing Room, and a much larger...

Late June typically marks the time of year in which Apple retail store openings begin to ramp up, and this year appears to be no exception with three grand openings scheduled for this Saturday, June 30. The group of three is Apple's largest batch of openings since seven stores opened in one weekend last September. This week's openings include: - Ridge Hill (Yonkers, New York): The new Ridge...

AllThingsD reports on an interesting survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) studying the balance of iPhone sales among the three major U.S. carriers at various points of sale such as Apple's retail stores, Best Buy, and warehouse clubs and mass market retailers. The survey shows that AT&T remains the clear market leader for the iPhone in the United States, registering at...

Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that all Apple retail store staff would be receiving raises of at least $4 per hour, a claim that the site later backpedaled from somewhat as other sources from the company's stores reported in to note that they had heard nothing of the sort. But Dow Jones Newswires is now weighing in with its own claims that Apple is indeed raising staff pay by...

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple's retail stores have begun installing new window displays showing off the new Retina MacBook Pro mounted on a pedestal with a massive model of the machine as a background. As we reported earlier today, Apple retail stores have been receiving display models of the new Retina MacBook Pro, but shipments of stock are just starting to trickle in. Those looking for a...

As noted by ifoAppleStore, Apple is continuing its trickle of retail store openings this week with a new location opening on Friday, May 25 in Paris. The new Les Quatre Temps store will be Apple's sixth in the Paris metropolitan area. The huge store will be located on Level 1 adjacent to the Gap store. The five-level mall is located in the La Défense district of Paris, along the north...

ifoAppleStore reports that Apple is planning to open a new retail store in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall in Regina, Saskatchewan. The location is a notable one for being the first in the vast province in the heart of Canada, with no other Apple retail stores located within a 300-mile radius. Cornwall Centre is located in city center and has 90 retailers in an enclosed mall. City planning...

Following last week's retail store opening in Rome, Italy, Apple has announced another international grand opening this week with the debut of the Gran Plaza 2 store in Madrid, Spain. Centro Comercial Gran Plaza 2 under construction Rather than the traditional Saturday grand opening, the Gran Plaza 2 store will open to the public at 10:00 AM on Friday, April 27 to coincide with the opening...

AllThingsD reports on findings of a survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners which investigated where iPhone owners purchased their device. The found that the breakdown of retail vs online sales was 76 percent retail vs 24 percent online. Of that 76% from retail stores, the breakdown showed that Best Buy was almost as big as Apple's own retail stores as a point of sale: ...

With Apple's official launch of the iPad in Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong just hours away, it seems that some of the company's retail stores are beginning their preparations. At Apple's Fukuoka Tenjin store in Japan, which closed for the night a little over an hour ago, employees are currently hard at work removing iPad 2 units from display in order to replace them with demo models...