The store at the The Gardens at Palm Beaches (Fla.) will open at 10 a.m. on Sat., April 23rd. It will be the 8th store in the state, and the #104 on the planet.

read more...

Meanwhile, construction is underway on Lincoln Road (Fla.), site of a future Apple store, but so far the work appears to be only on the BCBG Max Azaria store. The former Mosley’s Linen store still has a leasing sign in the window for part of the property.

read more...

Updated charts and graphs of Apple’s financial figures at now available at Jomy’s Web site.

read more...

The San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects has given a Merit Award to the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (Berkeley) for the Ginza (Tokyo) Apple retail store, noting it took Apple’s core design and adapted it into an 8-story building.

read more...

Thanks to Wysz for confirming that Apple’s retail stores will close at 5 p.m. on the 29th for the Tiger event, re-open at 6 p.m., and then stay open until midnight (where possible) to handle the customer traffic. Apple also says the stores will hold contests for prizes during the event.

read more...

Apple reported quarterly revenues of $3.24 billion, down slightly from the previous quarter, but up from $2.014 billion from the same quarter of 2003. Profit was $290 million, compared to $295 million from the previous quarter, and $61 million from Q2 2003.

read more...

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer called the Retail segment results "terrific," saying revenues were $571 million, up $10 million from the previous quarter, and profit was $42 million, down slightly from $45 million from the previous quarter. Average store revenue was $5.6 million, down slightly from $5.9 from the previous quarter. Two new stores opened during [...]

read more...

Exec. V-P Tim Cook said Apple shipped some Mac Minis to Best Buy during the last quarters, and all Best Buy stores started selling them on April 1st, accompanied by a Sunday supplement newspaper ad. "We are continuing to look at our channel strategy," to find retailers that offer a "high-quality buying experience" for Apple [...]

read more...

Interestingly, Apple said "direct" sales–those through its own retail stores, the on-line store, iTunes Music Store and U.S. education–increased to 48% during the quarter, compared to 44% in the year-ago quarter.

read more...

img src=”http://www.ifoapplestore.com/photos/hot.gif” alt=”” height=”10″ width=”24″ border=”0″> The Apple retail stores will be Ground Zero for the introduction of OS X Tiger, Fri. April 29th. Traditionally, the stores close at 5 p.m. for preparation, and then re-open at 6 p.m. to a waiting line of Macintosh enthusiasts. Check Apple’s OS X Web page for the expected [...]

read more...

Several future store locations are now sporting black-painted plywood while construction work begins, including the Green Hills (Nashville) store, which is next to Tiba Spa in the southwest corner of the mall atrium.

read more...

Construction continues on the Bullring (UK) store, but several rough spots are being sanded out, delaying the grand opening beyond the original date. The latest info is a late April opening.

read more...

The AppleInsider site has some photos of the future Mid-Town (NYC) retail store, which is essentially a hole-in-the-ground right now.

read more...

Former retail store employee Eric Gruber has posted an account of his six-month, part-time tour working at the Country Club Plaza (Mo.) Apple store. It isn’t a "tell all," but rather reveals some of the more cultural and social aspects of the job, and concludes with some thoughts on how Apple might improve.

read more...

Speaking of check-out, the POS device has changed to a more streamlined device, with updated processing screens, and a new stylus holder.

read more...

My local Best Buy stores haven’t yet displayed the Mac Mini, but a poster on the HT Mini Web site has shared photos of an actual in-store display, essentially the same as depicted in Best Buy’s Sunday supplement ad. Now, do the sales personnel know anything about the Mac Mini?

read more...

Red tags have sprouted on certain high-value (and perhaps high-shoplifted) software in the retail stores. While the boxes heft just like the real thing, they apparently don’t include the necessary CDs. When you bring one to the checkout for purchase, it will be exchanged for a "real" version stored in the lock-up.

read more...

A Seattle newspaper writes of the new social techniques of meeting members of the opposite sex, which apparently includes hanging around an Apple store.

read more...

I’ve waited almost 18 months for my prediction of a retail store at the Irvine Spectrum Center (S. Calif.) and now it’s come true–the lease is signed. The mall is part of a 5,000-acre development that includes a tech park and entertainment center, not far from the existing South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island stores [...]

read more...

Two more stores have been confirmed: NorthPark Center (Tex.) is along U.S 75 northeast of Dallas, has been undergoing an expansion, and is rated the #1 most popular Metroplex attraction. Macerich has a 50% stake in the mall, which has 120 stores. The Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham (Mass.) southeast of Boston has reinvigorated the [...]

read more...