Whoa! Uncharacteristically, Apple updated its Retail Web page during the weekend, in this case noting that the Yorkdale (Canada) store is now open for business. Usually it takes until at least Monday for the Web site to show the good news on store openings.

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Several more stores are scheduled for additional job positions, including Creatives, cashiers, business consultants and telephone operators. I’ve added "bugs" to the store listing, indicating which stores have these special positions, as indicated by job listings on Apple’s Web page. It appears the company is reacting to increased telephone and cash register traffic at the [...]

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Friday and Saturday were blow-out sale days for MacHardware in Mission, a south-Kansas City (Kan.) suburb, just before the permanent closure of the store. Various blogs have said the opening of the Country Club Plaza (Mo.) store didn’t help the reseller’s business, but other factors may have played a part.

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Just catching up: Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer showed up at the Southpark (NC) retail store for the Tiger event, and chatted up the visitors about Apple, what computers they had and what they did with them.

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On this date in 2001 Apple opened its very first retail store at Tysons Corner (Virg.) at 10 a.m., followed three hours later by the second store in the Glendale Galleria (S. Calif.). From those two stores, Apple has now invested nearly $1 billion in its Retail segment operation, has opened 105 stores employing a [...]

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Several Apple resellers in the Toronto area expressed their "trepidation" to a reporter from the city’s Globe and Mail newspaper, in advance of the grand opening of the Yorkdale (Canada) retail store.

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A Window Merchant job position has been posted on Apple’s Web site, responsible for, "the production and implementation of brand visual merchandising presentation" at the stores.

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Talk about early stages of construction…the future Eastview (NY) store is down to the bare walls and floor, but at least work is underway.

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For the Apple retail stores, summer is defined by the bright orange color of Apple Camp T-shirts. The company has posted information at a new Web page.

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Apple is flexing its retail muscles again with four new store locations, confirming that the Retail segment is king around Cupertino. First, Apple is filling out the southern California scene with a future store at the Brea Mall, in Orange County north of Anaheim, and a store at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, [...]

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A "Portland Oregonian" newspaper story confirms the future Bridgeport Village (Ore.) retail store, and that it will be in Building #8 of the complex.

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The Eastview (NY) retail store will hold its grand opening on July 23rd, by which time the Jesse Group iPod accessory kiosk out in front will be somewhere else (if not already).

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The AppleInsider Web site has posted a story on the in-progress Westchester (NY) store remodel and enlargement, noting that it will also serve as a test store for a new arrangement or design.

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The future Penn Square (Okla.) store will occupy one-half of the current Lane Bryant space, after LB moves upstairs to a larger space. The other half of the space will be occupied by Coach.

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Ouch! A new forum posting blasts Apple for reportedly hiring "big box" management at the Yorkdale (Canada) store who have "never used a Mac," and "have never paid their dues in supporting the platform." What’s more, the post claims Apple Canada was "side-stepped completely" on the hiring decisions, handing them a royal insult.

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The Yorkdale (Toronto) store will hold its grand opening on May 21st at 9:30 a.m., with a giveaway of 1,500 commemorative T-shirts.

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The March 2005 issue of Orange County (Calif.) business magazine contains quotes from unusually talkative, then-Sr. manager of Apple Retail store media relations Jane Rauckhorst, about the stores and their philosophy. Rauckhorst seems to have offered up more information than in previous stories–and then disappeared from Apple’s press contacts Web page. And then…

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Retail PR is now handled by Monica Wik, who up until last month was corporate communications manager for Sony Computer Entertainment, handling the big-time PlayStation Portable introduction.

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Over at the ehmac.ca Web site, the forum is very active with speculation on the Yorkdale (Toronto) grand opening date, and plastered with photos of the store details, including a stone siding re-do and the storeroom rolling shelves.

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The AppleInsider Web site has additional details on the four new stores locations, including their location within the malls and that at least two of the leases have not yet been signed.

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