Watch this video of the Regent Street (London) grand opening.

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Ouch! Talk about a bad review! An entry on the CarPundit Web site gives the Genius Bars a really bad rap, even comparing the staffers as, "seemingly drawn from Starbucks employees."

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Apple has pushed back the store hours for the Shinsaibashi (Japan) store by one hour, opening the store at 11 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m. daily. Apparently Osaka is a late-shopping town.

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Speaking of store hours, the special holiday hours for retail stores include some that open at 7 a.m. and close at 11 p.m.!

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Be sure to visit your local Apple store to pick up the almost-tabloid-sized holiday shopping brochure, and then pass it around to your Windows friends. The brochure is a departure from Apple’s normal policy of very little printed "collateral" material in the stores.

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The ThinkSecret Web site reports that Apple retail store traffic was at least four times that of the same day last year, and other analysts say Black Friday was generally a retail success: VISA said sales using its cards were up 14.3% compared to last year, and ShopperTrak (whose clients include Apple) estimated Friday sales [...]

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Happy Holidays! To celebrate the official start of the holiday season, I’ve created some store-related greeting cards that you can send to anyone of your choice. Just fill out the form, select a greet card photo, and click the button!

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Apple has apparently decided to end the Lucky Bag program that has accompanied the grand opening of its last three flagship stores, no doubt in part because of the administrative issues surrounding the sales. That news is among the topics in my latest "rant" that also covers being a Webmaster and future stores.

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The new-style employee T-shirts have appeared at the Regent Street (London) store, featuring more sporty material and the logo on the sleeve.

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A Regent Street (London) grand opening Lucky Bag has sold on eBay for 410 GBP, netting the seller a profit of about $303. Several empty Lucky Bags with T-shirt have been sold for about $100. The going price for the T-shirt alone seems to be about $65.

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While all eyes were diverted towards London, the Nagoya (Japan) retail store is taking shape in a hurry. Deliveries and other activity indicate a late January 2005 grand opening.

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I’ve posted photos of the waiting line and interior views of the Regent Street store.

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ThinkSecret has a good summary of holiday shopping at the Apple store, including what they call "Black Friday." Genius Bars will temporarily be used for check-out, staff will be tripled, and merchandise has been stockpiled anticipating big sales.

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The future Yorkdale (Toronto) retail store has now appeared as a location on Apple’s "Jobs" Web page, but there are no listed openings. However, listings are being shared by third-party recruiters, including Canada-based Jross Retail Recruiters Inc.

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USA Today published a story on Apple’s retail initiative under the headline, "Apple reboots into retailing," and summarized, "Thanks to brilliant marketing, savvy neighborhood locations and a revival of the company’s fortunes sparked by the hip iPod digital music player, Apple stores are hot."

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I’ve added lots of additional photo and story links to the Regent Street grand opening report. Check back to see if you’ve missed anything. One BBC story stated, "By 11 in the morning - one hour after opening - police were estimating 5,000 had turned up." That estimate seems way over the mark, since just [...]

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Apple has confirmed to Cnet.com that it will open a Toronto store, something reported by several rumor sites several months ago, and most recently spotlighted by Mac OSX Rumors.

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The MacBillBoard Web site has some clever desktops and "playgrounds" that include an Apple store grand opening and a mini-store–clever stuff!

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A San Jose Mercury-News story explains the quick jump in the price of Apple stock on Monday (up $6.18 to $61.35), based on a positive forecast by the Piper Jaffray financial analysis firm. The company also was positive on retail, the newspaper said, noting, "In subsequent conversations with 15 Apple resellers (by Piper Jaffray), 30 [...]

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There are at least 10 Regent Street grand opening T-shirts listed on eBay, now priced between $1.82 and $66.

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