A series of tips to a France-based Web site about two new Apple store locations have been confirmed—stores will open in Lyon and the Paris suburb of Vélizy-Villacoublay later this year. As reported by the MacGeneration Web site, a store will open at the La Part Dieu shopping mall in Lyon, in the mid-south of France. The city-center mall is adjacent to the city’s train station, was recently expanded, and attracts shoppers from a wide area. The second store will open at the huge Vélizy 2 shopping mall southwest of Paris, not far from the Palace of Versailles. The mall received a 2007 facelift and includes a multi-screen cinema a 7,000 parking spaces. Both stores could open by this September.

Once again, the line-up of employee job positions at Apple’s stores is changing, this time adding two positions at the top and one at the bottom. The changes seem to focus on creating more experience at the lower-level, and broader, more strategic leadership at the top. Apple has created an entry-level Associate position for recent college graduates, allowing them to rotate among various retail assignments over a 24-month period. It appears to extend the retail segment’s annual internship program. At the top, Apple has created a Market Leader position who is “a visionary and an inspirational leader,” and a Store Leader position, who is “a coach, leader, partner, and friend.” These positions have broader responsibilities and focus on community and the store experience. This could allow the existing Manager positions to focus solely on the operational aspects of their assigned store. The company recently added the position of Expert, but otherwise has long relied on the standard positions of Manager, Genius, Specialist, Creative and Inventory Specialist to staff the stores. The new Associate position has a March 15th application deadline and requires applicants graduate from college by June. The Store Leader position requires previous regional or district-level retail experience. The Market Leader position is more demanding: a minimum of 5-10 years of senior retail store experience, preferably in a multi-store environment.

While Apple Inc. was making news last November with the roll-out of a high-tech iPod touch point-of-sale (POS) system at its 277 retail stores, the company that actually designed and built the sleek device was content to lay low and not take any of the credit. Now their secret is out: It was southern California-based Infinite Peripherals (IPC) that developed that techno-shell that allows an iPod touch to process purchases so elegantly at Apple’s stores. The LinÄ“a-pro allows store employees to quickly scan barcodes, read credit card magnetic stripes and accept customer signatures. An interview with a company executive and a hands-on test of the device reveals how the device was developed and is now being marketed. read more…

Apple’s retail store Web page has sprouted a new panel, offering a notification when the newly-announced iPad is available “at the Apple Retail Store.” Clicking on a link sends you to a “Notify me” Web page where you can enter your e-mail address. Strangely, the text on this page say a notification will be sent “when iPad is available to order,” not when supplies arrive at the stores. The break-through device was announced on January 28th, and Steve Jobs said the Wi-Fi model would be available within 60 days, and the 3G model would be available within 90 days. After submitting your e-mail address for a notification, the “Thank you” message says, “You’ll hear back from us as soon as there’s more information on ordering iPad.”

Sources in China have revealed where the company will open its two announced retail store in Shanghai this year, including inside the city’s tallest building. The Shanghai Daily newspaper reports that Apple spokesperson Huang Yuna confirmed that one store will be installed inside the Shanghai World Financial Center, an impressive 101-story building completed in 2008. The city center building includes offices, a hotel, three observation decks and two levels of retail space. The second Apple store will be on Huaihai Road M, real estate sources told the newspaper, an elegant shopping district somewhat west of city center. The exact timing of both grand openings isn’t known, but they could occur before the announced second store in Beijing, on Qianmen Street.

For all the speculation and hype that Apple’s future products have generated lately, the company and its retail stores produced real and record financial results for the latest quarter to back up the buzz. Company revenues totaled a record $15.6 billion for the holiday quarter, with a record profit of $3.3 billion. The retail stores made a substantial contribution to those results, reporting record revenues of $1.97 billion, up 13 percent from the year-ago quarter. Retail profit for the quarter totaled a record $481 million, up 36 percent from Q1 2009. The stores sold a record 689,000 Macs, out of a company total of 3.36 million Macs. The number of visitors to the stores jumped nine percent for the quarter, fueling 586,000 personal training sessions and 280,000 One to One membership subscriptions. During a conference call with analysts, CFO Peter Oppenheimer reiterated that the company would open 40 to 50 new stores during fiscal 2010, with about one-half outside the United States. read more…

A group of about 30 Apple store enthusiasts braved 6°F. overnight temperatures to establish their place in line for the Große Bockenheimer Straße (Frankfurt) retail store, which opens this morning at 11 a.m. In the darkness, workers gave the store its last cleaning and polishing, and erected bicycle fencing in front of the store to control the expected large crowd. The compact, two-level store features a spiral glass staircase at the very back of the space, and the other traditional interior design features. Surf the MacErkopf.de Web site for on-going grand opening coverage, including photos and video. Also check these flickr sets of photos: #1 / #2 / #3 / #4 / #5 / #6 / #7 / #8 / #9 / #10, and these videos:  #1 /  #2 / #2 / #4.

Sources in the real estate industry say that Apple’s first retail store in Spain will appear later this year in Valencia, inside an historic building along the city’s main shopping thoroughfare. As reported by the ABC.es Web site, the store will be located in a three-story building at Calle de Cristóbal Colón 25, designed by noted architect Lucas Garcia Cardona in 1889. According to the sources, Apple is working through city approvals to renovate and upgrade the building to accommodate an Apple store. The location is across from the street from the large El Corte Inglés department store, and within a three-minute walk to the city’s train station and bullring. According to the Web site, city officials are willing to allow “maximum changes to the (building) permit…without compromising the special protections afforded the (historic) building.” The store will occupy the basement and ground floor, while upper floors will be occupied by back-of-house and Apple offices. The store could open by year’s end, the Web site states. read more…

If the Carousel du Louvre (Paris) store is located where it’s at, the future Opera District store is where it’s happening. That’s the difference between the two locations, even though they’re located less than one mile apart in the City of Light. While the Louvre store is located underground and surrounded by old works of art, the Opera District store will be at the center of a vibrant district of clubs, restaurants, the city’s iconic Opera House and several large department stores. A reconnaissance of the neighborhood begins by climbing the stairs out of the Opera Metro subway station, revealing the huge columns that frame the façade of the Opera House, built in 1875. read more…

Recently released planning documents for the future Covent Garden (London) retail store demonstrate the extraordinary lengths to which Apple’s architects are going to renovate and preserve the building’s architectural features. The 1878 building includes an eight-bay arcade marked by 20-foot stone arches. Inside, the two-level store will feature a spiral glass staircase, a 30′x40′ courtyard topped with a glass skylight, and original brick and masonry walls. According to the plans, workers will perform extensive renovations to existing metal work and masonry, both cleaning them and replacing broken or damaged fixtures. The sub-divided interior space will be modified to create a single, more unified space. Bronze work will be added to the outside arcade, along with renovated gas lights. A large and architecturally significant wood staircase will be relocated to a side entrance leading to the upper floor Apple administrative offices. In a complicated renovation to lower a portion of floor by four inches, workers will remove a set of brick arches piece-by-piece, photograph and number them, and then rebuild the arches to match the new floor height. In one section of a filed document, window repair is described: “Overhaul all ironmongery and replace defective ironmongery to match original, allow for careful piecing-in timber where repairs where necessary and for replacing sash cords, parting bead and rebalancing sash weight, refix and repair the frame.” Find links to the documents after the break. read more…

Those who read the IFO Web site closely may have noticed that there is now a Meebo sharing bar at the bottom of the main pages. Meebo allows you to quickly share an entire page, a video or photo with a friend or colleague, and also to chat with other Meebo members. Click the buttons at the bottom of the page to share an entire page, or roll your cursor over a specific photo or video to quickly share it. For mobile users, the IFO site appears in abbreviated form to speed download to your iPhone or other mobile device. However, if you prefer the traditional display, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and then flip the switch labeled “Mobile Theme” to “off.” You’ll now see the site in its full glory whenever you visit the site.

After postponing the grand opening of the Große Bockenheimer Straße (Frankfurt) retail store at the last moment last December, Apple has announced the store will now open this Saturday at 11 a.m. Apple typically opens most of its stores in the period before America’s Thanksgiving holiday or Christmas, in order to maximize the number of stores open during the busy holiday shopping season. In this case, Apple formally announced the grand opening for last December 5th. But just two days before that date, Apple announced it was delaying the opening until January 2010. The only explanation for the delay was a quip on the store’s Web site: “We’re putting the finishing touches on the final touches.” The store will be the third in Germany.

The structural steel construction for the future Lincoln Park (Chicago) retail store is finished, the structure is enclosed, and design work on the adjacent plaza and garden is underway. Photos posted by Zolk on flickr show the shell structure swathed in a teal green covering, where the stainless steel siding will eventually be hung on the east and west sides of the building. Blue tarps cover the north and south ends of the structure, which will eventually be all-glass to give the store a see-through effect. In mid-winter Chicago, work is now focused on the inside of the building, and on the westside plaza between the Apple store and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) subway entrance building. The final design of that plaza is still under review, since photos seem to show mock-ups of tree, planter box and shelter locations, and samples of the plaza concrete surface. Apple has agreed to remodel the adjacent CTA entrance building and below-ground subway station. No work on that project is visible yet. Photos after the break. read more…

A teenager who allegedly typed a threatening message on a display computer at the Staten Island Mall (NY) Apple store has been arrested and charged with making terroristic threat. Jason Barry, 17, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. According to the district attorney, Barry and two friends visited the store on January 11th. During the visit, court documents state, Barry used a word processor to create a new document, and threatened to return to the store on January 17th to harm the store employees. The message said in part, “I have threatened your store and all its employees with a bloody death … whoever the crew maybe working, or the innocent citizens that walk in … will be eliminated with the force of a… bomb loaded with C4 (explosive), strapped to my chest.” Barry and his friends then left the store with the message still displayed on the computer. A store employee noticed the message and called the police. Barry had signed the letter with the name of a friend’s father, making identification of Barry easier, police say. In a press release, Staten Island district attorney Daniel Donovan said Barry claimed that he was joking and had forgotten to delete the message. But Donovan added, “In the post-9/11 world, especially in light of recent terrorist plots against our country, behavior of this type must be taken seriously.” Barry’s lawyer, Mark Fonte told a reporter that, ”It was meant as a foolish joke by an otherwise very good kid.” Fonte said he will meet with the district attorney before Barry’s next court appearance to work out a plea deal. Barry’s parents posted $10,000 bail after a Wednesday court appearance and he was released. Read (pdf) the district attorney’s press release.

There are confirmations for several future Apple stores in the U.S. and Canada, including two dormant locations and three new sites. Traditionally, January is a year for new store revelations, about six to eight months ahead of store grand openings, which are scheduled in the period of mid-summer to Thanksgiving. First, the previously confirmed Chinook Center (Calgary) store will finally open in late summer. A lease was reportedly signed in December 2006, and job listings were posted in May 2007. However, for economic or architectural reasons, the store never opened, and a store at the Market Mall in Calgary opened instead. Next, the similarly-delayed Haywood Mall (Greenville, SC) store will open in August. Apple scouted the location in 2006, but switched interest to the planned Magnolia Park Town Center when a suitable space couldn’t be found. When Magnolia Park stalled during the economic crisis, Apple switched back to Haywood Mall and signed a lease for the former Children’s Place space. Next, a new store has been confirmed for the lively Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis (MN), southwest of downtown. The exact location of the street-level store isn’t known, but a 9,600 square-foot redevelopment at 3018 Hennepin Avenue South is a possibility. Ironically, the neighborhood is the long-time home of FirstTech, a family enterprise that began as a radio repair shop in 1941, and then transitioned to computers and Apple gear in the 1980s. Fourthly, Apple will open a store at Polaris Fashion Place, a huge regional mall along Interstate 71 north of Columbus (OH). The mall has 155 stores and draws from a large, upscale area. Next, a store will open at the Ross Park Mall, in the affluent North Hills suburbs north of downtown Pittsburgh (PA). The store would be about nine miles north of the existing Shadyside downtown store. Lastly, the Web site for the SouthGate|Bath (UK) shopping mall now lists Apple as “Coming Soon…” The mall consists of 56 spaces along a maze of streets in city center, opening in phases through the end of 2010. The timing of any grand opening isn’t known.