The Shadyside retail store will open Sept. 4th at 10 a.m., and will feature a training studio where fee-based classes will be held.

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The San Francisco store will hold a "College Night" on Sept. 14th at 6 p.m., with the headline, "Study better. Learn faster. Party louder." The promo on Apple’s retail page says, " Take a break from studying to hear great live music and try your hand at creating and playing music using Apple’s latest products." [...]

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Ha! Here’s another video about the Shinsaibashi retail store–sunset to sunrise, with some…ah, singing.

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I’ve posted my first exterior photos of the Shinsaibashi retail store, showing its prominent position on Midosuji street.

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Workers stripped the black plastic off the store front windows after 5 p.m., and I now have photos of the famous glass staircase–it’s spectacular!

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I’ve arrived in Osaka to find that the front windows of the Apple store are still covered with black plastic, preventing any view of the inside. Three security guards are standing sentry on each side and at the door, and there is considerable evidence of construction still in-progress. Check my special grand opening report for [...]

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About a month ago other Web sites were reporting that the future Shadyside (Penn.) store would host a "digital kitchen," where subject matter experts would provide demonstrations and learning sessions to customers. Now I’ve learned Apple has hired two full-time and two part-time "Creative Specialists" with skills in specific software, and who will be learning [...]

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With 18 stores to open before year’s end, Apple better get the ball rolling on grand openings. Well, perhaps the ball is rolling, as those hanging out at Cinnabon say the Country Club Plaza and the Carousel stores will both open on Sept. 25th. Perhaps others will share the same date.

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A new Apple Centre opened in Goteborg (Sweden) on Wednesday, and they’ve posted some photos.

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I’m headed to Osaka on the 12:40 p.m. (PDT) flight, and will try to post photos of the new Shinsaibashi store by Wednesday morning. Keep an eye on my special grand opening page leading up to Saturday’s event!

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Still another store location has appeared on Apple’s "Jobs" Web page, this time for Bethesda Row, a large shopping district that is not far from the existing Montgomery Mall retail store that opened May 8th.

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A story on the Vunet.com Web site "confirms" that the Regent Street store will open this calendar year, a fact I’ve been reporting since April.

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Thanks to Mikael for photos taken on Sunday of the Shinsaibashi store, showing the partially-revealed storefront. He also snapped a photo of a blueprint-type diagram of the store that’s on display, showing an unidentified circular feature inside the store!

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Apple has a full schedule of events leading up to the grand opening of the Shinsaibashi store, including a family and friends of staff reception, and a briefing for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan by Steve. In this case, "Steve" is Steve Cano, the regional director for retail in Japan, since Steve Jobs [...]

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At last! Some west coast Apple stores have received limited stocks of 2.5 GHz G5 desktops, creating a dilemma for the staffs. Should they put the units on display to drum up business, or start selling them immediately? I’m guessing the supply won’t last long.

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Yes, ifoAppleStore will be at the grand opening of the Shinsaibashi (Osaka) retail store! I’ll be heading to Japan on Tuesday (losing a day in transit), and will post photos and video of the store shortly after I arrive. I’ll then be posting photos and videos of the waiting line and grand opening itself. The [...]

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I’m learning more about Apple’s experience from the Ginza store, including that within a month it became the highest volume retailer in Japan, beating out Yodobashi, a giant camera and electronics retailer in the Shinjuku district. Apple expanded the training space for paid classes because of high demand, but at the same time dropped their [...]

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In contrast to the grand opening of the Ginza store where no one was reluctant to dash into the store, a Wired news story says those first-in-line for the iPod Mini event didn’t want their photos taken by 40+ members of the press waiting inside. It took some negotiations to coax them inside!

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I mentioned Bill Palmer’s experience at the Millenia (Orlando) store post-Hurricane Charley, and now he’s posted another story about the store, and how it’s an easy place to hang out with a laptop. His experience is in line with the official philosophy of the stores that’s been explained before.

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You may not have noticed it, but Apple’s stores have small signs related to their accommodation policy, which is that with notice, Apple will provide assistance customers. The sign doesn’t mention what type of assistance, but apparently it applies particularly to those who are deaf or blind.

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