Under the theory that a closed store is an unproductive store, expect Apple’s retail stores to become more productive. It seems nearly impossible to arrange for some locations, but Apple intends to lengthen the store hours considerably: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 9:30 [...]

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Thanks to the ‘other’ Gary for photos of the Northbrook (Ill.) store grand opening today. It appears to follow the standard store design, with ‘pro’ and ‘home’ sections at the front.

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You’ll recall the strange design of the EZ Pay stations within Apple’s mini-stores that required you to bend down and bend your wrist to sign the credit card authorization? Now Apple has attached stand-alone terminals, whose wires run out the side of the stainless steel to the adjacent wooden product counter.

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The Woodlands (Tex.) store will open July 23rd, according to the mall’s Web site. The opening date has not yet been posted on Apple’s retail Web page.

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Apple announced the grand opening of the Eastview (NY) store for July 23rd.

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Oh, that Best Buy..always coming up with innovative retail initiatives! Their latest push is to link their retail stores with individualized Web sites, and then crediting the stores for sales made on-line. Previously, the store and salesperson was credited with an Internet sale only if the on-line customer picked up the merchandise at the store. [...]

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Thanks to Steven, who stopped long enough at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to snap photos of the iPod vending machine that offers a complete selection of on-the-go music gear: iPods, iPod minis and iPod shuffles.

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Apple has officially announced the re-location of the The Westchester (NY) retail store to a larger space next door, with a double-size Genius Bar and a new Studio bar. They’ll be giving away 20 iPod shuffles during the grand opening day through a trivia contest. Apple has sent out e-mail to local Mac users announcing [...]

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Apple’s Retail segment revenues and profit increased significantly when compared to the same quarter of 2004, but both figures declined compared to the previous quarter of 2005. Revenues for the 3rd quarter of 2005 were $555 million, and profits were $29 million. The decrease is only the third in the stores’ 17-quarter history, and occurred [...]

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Interim CEO of Apple Retail Switzerland Ltd. Walter Müllhaupt has confirmed that Apple will open a retail store at an unknown location (Bahnhofstrasse?) in Zurich. In an interview with FACTS magazine, Müllhaupt declined to provide an opening date or size for the store. The article notes there are about 100 Apple authorized resellers already in [...]

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t took me several weeks, but I’ve finally located the link for the audio interviews that ehmac.ca did for the grand opening of the Yorkdale (Canada) retail store. If you click this link it will subscribe you to the group’s podcasts in iTunes, which also include the first two episodes of a 30-minute program.

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MacWorld UK has posted photos of the Bluewater (UK) retail store grand opening on Saturday.

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An Apple Centre opened Saturday in the new Galerii Mokotów shopping center in suburban Warsaw (Poland). A photo of the storefront shows the white Apple log and wood interior funiture before the store opened, and this page from Apple Poland Web site provides more details and photos.

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Thanks to Simon for grand opening photo of the Bluewater (UK) retail store, showing the impressive architecture and waiting line in one detailed sweep.

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Apple has officially announced the July 16th grand opening of the Pioneer Place (Ore.) and Northbrook (Ill.) retail stores, the former at 9:30 a.m. and the latter at 10 a.m. Both events will feature 1,000 commemorative T-shirts and the usual $2,350 sweepstakes.

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My condolences go out to the people of London, who suffered a murderous attack by terrorists. The last three explosions occurred within a mile and a half of the Regent Street Apple store (map), and and in the hour before the store was to open. In an on-line notice of the closing, Apple said, "For [...]

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You may know that CompUSA purchased The Good Guys in Dec. 2003 for about $55 million. Now they’ve opened 17 so-called “megastore,” which are the conversion of existing branches to hybrid locations: CompUSA-type shelving around the outside walls, and up-scale products grouped into categories in the center of the store. I’ve visited a megastore and [...]

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On the other hand, PC World magazine editor Harry McCracken went looking for a laptop, and visited an Apple store to exclaim, "I could be more productive here than I am in my own office." His column notes that Apple’s store bear little resemblance to other computer stores.

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Forbes magazine columnist David A. Andelman writes about his mixed experience with repair service at the SoHo (NYC) store Genius Bar. Read about his power supply problem, his wrath at not having his computer fixed within 24 hours, and his calling the cellular phone of an Apple HQ bigwig to get things moving. He comes [...]

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Apple is officially hiring for the two new Japan stores I announced previously: Sendai and Fukuoka.

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