Minneapolis can be brutal in the winter, with temperatures well below zero. In the summer, mosquitoes cruise like Huey Cobras on patrol. But I’m compelled to visit this land of contrasts to find out what makes it so attractive to Apple–they already have two retail stores on the southwest side of Minneapolis. I head for [...]

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Thousands of miles away on Regent Street in London, that huge, block-sized mixed retail, office and residential development is coming into sharper focus. An Apple retail store will occupy two floors in the middle of the block, leaving space on either side for smaller, as-yet unknown tenants. It’s possible that Apple will have to forego [...]

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Apple has posted job openings for the future (but unannounced) Danbury (Conn.) retail store on the "Jobs" Web page.

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Listed on the "Jobs" page drop-down menu are the new locations of Pittsburgh (Shadyside) and Kansas City (Country Club Plaza, Mo.), the future retail stores I announced here first. However, no open positions are yet posted for these two new stores. Perhaps it’s a trend — both stores will be part of historic urban shopping [...]

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Where do old Apple retail store graphics go when they’re taken down? Well, they’re shipped back to Apple, who previously turned them into small pieces, but will now allow independent resellers purchase them at cost for use in their stores. The large window graphics reportedly cost $45 and the smaller wall sections fetch $20. The [...]

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You’ll recall that last Nov. 6th I reported on a financial analysts’ meeting, where Sr. v-p Retail Ron Johnson talked about several future in-store service programs. Now the Apple Insider Web site says those programs will begin April 1st, and provides complete details on the realigned, free Standard level of service, and the new $99 [...]

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It’s funny how television affects the nation’s behavior–Donald Trump gets a TV show and suddenly everyone is waving their hand and saying, "You’re fired." Now I’ve come across a piece of audio tape that claims to be from some type of Apple retail store meeting, and it sounds exactly like….Howard Dean.

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No…I have no idea what happened to the Nike shoe promotion at the retail stores. I do know that some employees are wearing the shoes, and that the blurb about the promotion on Apple’s retail Web page has disappeared. It sounded like a strange pair-up in the first place.

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More details are emerging about Apple’s plan to open the mini-stores that I revealed back in early February. The stores will be installed on university campuses over the next 18 months, most likely as special areas of existing student union or bookstore retail operations. The stores will sport some of Apple’s typical graphics and design [...]

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How do you know when it’s closing time at an Apple store? Well, first the staff dims the lights to signal "outta here," and then finally the screens of the demo computers flash white letters on a black screen– "Thanks for shopping the xxxxxx Apple store. We’ll be reopening again at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Thanks [...]

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Those two 10%-off cards on eBay sold for $65.97 and $56, and the buyers will shortly help to pump more money into Apple’s revenues!

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A long article in today’s The Wall Street Journal is titled, "Show, Don’t Tell," and explains how H-P and Microsoft believe that lots of consumers don’t understand what computers are capable of doing, and so the companies are now installing 15′x15′ "lesson centers" in certain retail stores to promote certain product combinations: computers and digital [...]

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The ThinkSecret Web site has a long special report on a lawsuit filed by some of Apple’s resellers, in which the resellers question Apple’s wholesale pricing of products for its own stores vs. their authorized resellers. The plaintiffs claim Apple’s own retail stores receive bigger discounts on merchandise, and that Apple’s accounting practices don’t accurately [...]

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I love barbeque and I love baseball, which took me 1,791 miles east to Kansas City (Kan.), where both are king. I started by visiting Gates & Sons Bar-B-Q (1026 State Ave.), where the noise level is high and the ribs are meaty. After sitting down with my rib slab, beans and potato salad, I [...]

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Here are some additional photographs of the SouthPark (NC) store grand opening, courtesy of Steve from the Charlotte Apple Computer Club.

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I’m just catching up on the lawsuit filed against Apple by several of their former resellers. A KGO-TV story ran just before the San Francisco store grand opening, and noted that MacAdam store owner Tom Santos was hoping to get a judge to delay the opening. Obviously, the judge didn’t…

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eBay Update: Pathetically, a Pasadena grand opening T-shirt sold for just $1.77, while a San Francisco T-shirt sold for $41. A second 10%-off card from a San Francisco Lucky Bag is also up for auction, and is currently at $11. The owner notes the card has a "nearly unlimited" value, since it depends upon how [...]

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I’m hardly a fashion statement…good or bad. But I know a fantastic Web site when I see it, and the Nike iD custom shoe site is one of them. Using Java and Javascript, the site allows you to create your own shoe design, complete with a personalized monogram. Apparently someone at Apple likes the shoes, [...]

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The Cyber India Ltd. Web site claims that, "Apple has finally opened their first retail outlet in the country." Officially, however, the store in Bangalore is an affiliated Apple Center, at the new Forum Mall in Bangalore. The store is owned and operated by Ample Technologies.

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Apples stores have sprouted tall, stand-alone "phone booths" for displaying iPod accessories. The white-painted, wooden shelves are about 6′-5" tall, and 24-inches on each of the four faces. Two opposing faces hold product shelves, while the other two sides display iPod graphics. The displays are placed near the front of most stores, as a divider [...]

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