Osaka store job openings are posted on the Japanese version of Apple’s Web site, and they include assistant store manager, MacSpecialist, salesperson, theater presenter, customer service agent, cashier, repair technician, inventory management, shipping agent, and interpreter. The page says that Apple is soliciting resumés and scheduling interviews for the positions. I anticipate that, like the [...]

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Based on Gateway’s announcement today, there’s no doubt in my mind that Apple decided to press down on the retail accelerator around last December, when they foresaw Gateway’s retail demise. Apple sped up the mall space acquisition process, and those locations are now starting to materialize. It explains why Apple bumped up their previous retail [...]

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Lots of job openings at future stores were posted this morning, including for the Christiana, Alderwood and Stoneridge stores.

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The city of Santa Monica (S. Calif.) reports receiving $24 million in sales tax revenue last year, a likely record. City treasurer Dave Carr told a newspaper reporter that downtown revenue has increased. "I think the Apple store has a lot to do with it," he said.

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Yikes! Apple has posted two more retail store locations on its "Jobs" Web site, Christiana (Wilmington, Del.) and Alderwood (Lynnwood, Wash.). That makes 28 future stores I know about, and 12 announced in the past 3 weeks. Many of these stores could take many months to open, including well into 2005.

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I should reiterate that it’s always challenging for Apple to identify a mall that meets its strict standards (high-end, destination location), and then to find an open space that meets their needs (30-40 feet wide, high-traffic). The most common constraint on new retail stores is simply finding a open space in an existing mall. Many [...]

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It’s becoming clearer which retail neighbors are common to Apple stores in malls, and might be a predictor of potential future sites: J. Jill, Abercrombie, Crate and Barrel, The Gap, J. Crew, and Pottery Barn. The preferred developers for Apple-located malls seem to be The Rouse Company, The Simon Group and The Westfield Group.

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A Canadian forum has some interesting discussion about this site and Steve Jobs.

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Thanks to Roland for information about the Sandton City Mall near Johannesburg (S. Africa), where last January he found the authorized Apple reseller Little Apple Buddy operating in a space that looks very much like Apple’s official stateside stores– the same color scheme, white plastic logo on black background, furniture and layout, but in a [...]

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Apple has posted still more retail store sites on its "Jobs" Web page: Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton (N. Calif.) and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga (S. Calif.). There are now a record 26 unannounced Apple retail store locations, of which perhaps 12-14 might be open by year’s end. And of the 26, 10 have been [...]

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"PC World" magazine senior editor Rebecca Freed writes about her experience with the San Francisco store, saying she was initially skeptical of Apple’s retailing philosophy. But after several visits, Freed now says, "My cynic gave it a rest."

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The Bethesda (Md.) store will hold its grand opening on May 8th.

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I don’t really review Apple stores, but in the case of Cambridgeside, I just can’t withhold comments. The store suffers: there are giant cracks in three of the wooden products tables, the floor has huge gaps between the boards, the front window iPod Mini display isn’t working, the digital still cameras had no power, there [...]

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I’ve updated the page describing the Genius Bar reservation system to include a view of an actual status screen, and information on a link to display the waiting time for a specific store.

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I’ve updated the page describing how to iChatAV with stores, adding that computers are now identified with their location (Pro Wall, Home table, etc.) as well as store ID.

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Thanks to Jonathan for long-view and close-view photos of the upcoming Montgomery (Md.) retail store. He reports the furniture is installed, but no products are yet on display.

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Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson accepted an Award of Excellent on behalf of Apple at the annual conference of The Center for Design and Business in Providence (RI), and also gave a 40-minute talk to an audience of 500 about Apple’s retailing strategy and philosophy that revealed some additional details about the store’s creation and [...]

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The Bethesda (Md.) store is very close to being stocked with merchandise, and the grand opening should be within a month. Expect the SoHo store to soon receive the standard change-out of flooring (wood to stone) and display tables (Corian to wood).

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Here’s a scene you won’t see very often–a pre-announcement of an Apple store, complete with official-looking graphics—the Oakridge (N. Calif.) retail store site, in corner space #1541.

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AppleInsider has confirmed through additional sources that the upcoming Osaka store will have a spiral glass staircase.

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