Thanks to Ahmad for the info that an Apple Centre opens this Sunday in Amman (Jordan), with all the usual Apple store design elements: wood display tables, wall graphics, bright lighting and something that looks like a Genius Bar. The 3,000 square-foot iSystem store is operated by long-time authorized resellers in the country.

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There have been several reports of warehouse retailer Costco having big stocks of iMac G5 desktops for sale, apparently the last of the inventory before the iMac Intel was introduced. Apple has previously used Costco to dispose of end-of-life products.

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The Northpark (Dallas) store will hold its grand opening this Saturday, March 4th, the third store in the region.

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The rise of the iPod and the withering of Apple’s mini-store concept has generated on-going speculation on whether the company will ever open iPod-only stores. Now there’s reason to speculate even more, with the opening of two stores in a chain of iPod-only stores in London by an authorized reseller. The tiny stores carry more [...]

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You may know that Apple’s retail stores periodically collect merchandise that’s been returned or is otherwise unfit for sale as “new,” and offers it at up to 20% off the standard price. This same practice is going on all the time at Apple’s on-line store, and now there’s a way of tracking what merchandise is [...]

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Thanks to Matt for the photo showing the black-painted barricade in front of construction for a revised/enlarged SoHo (NYC) store theater. “We’re setting the stage for something big,” the sign says. The previous theater had 80 theater-type seats.

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Information about a future Arndale Centre” store has been confirmed by the MyMacPad Web site, which also said the manager of the nearby Trafford Centre Apple store was spotted hovering around the area of the mall expansion construction. The store will occupy space U23 on the second level.

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Apple’s retail store architecture is pretty particular, but this flickr photo makes it seem as if the architects forgot to include doors and windows. Actually, it’s the Fukuoka (Japan) store, whose front door and display windows are left, around the corner. Oh, and the off-center back-lit logo? It was probably placed there by the architect [...]

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A white construction barricade is in front of the future Providence Place store, with Sharper Image on the left and Pottery Barn on the right. Thanks to Joss Poulton for the photos.

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Apple’s retail stores might be all about the experience, but for employees and the HQ financial staff it’s all about metrics. But exactly what are metrics and how do they fit in to Apple’s store operations?

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Apple will celebrate it’s 30th anniversary on April 1st, and one thankful enthusiast has prepared a commemorative “Thank you Steve!” T-shirt to mark the occasion. Thomas Avallone has been using Macs since 1990, is a former Apple store employee, and is now a Mac consultant in Louisiana. “It occurred to me that Apple would be [...]

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Podcaster Shawn King announced on tonight’s broadcast of Your Mac Life that an unnamed Apple employee confirmed to him the company will open a retail store in Calgary (Canada), at the Chinook Centre mall. King remarked that Apple is notoriously secreet about the stores, and that the employee consulted others within the company before confirming [...]

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Recognizing the locale of the future Carrefour Laval retail store in Montreal (Quebec), Apple has posted unusual French-language job ads on the Monster.ca Web site. The site asks, “L’idée de travailler chez Apple vous fait vibrer de joie?” If yes, join Apple’s retail team.

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Nik Fletcher has done some reconaissance at the West Quay mall in Southampton (UK), and located a logical space for the futue Apple store. However, he correctly notes that the architecture of the space limits how Apple might install its traditional stainless steel storefront, especially overhead.

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Ouch! You’ll recall that Apple abandoned its plans for a store in the Flatiron District of New York City in Sept. 2005 after receiving negative feedback on the architectural plan from the local community advisory board. Now real estate broker Robert K. Futterman & Assoc. LLC is trying to lease the property at 136 Fifth [...]

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Apple has revised their ProCare Web page, complete with testimonials and a thorough explanation of each of the benefits, including that ProCare is useable worldwide, and the new “Yearly Tune-up” service. Notice the counter sign in the background of the photos: “Brain cells multiplying. ProCare in progress.”

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Windows PC users in South Africa have the opportunity to turn in their computer and receive credit towards the purchase of a Macintosh from an authorized reseller. An official Apple Web page explains how the promotion works, including the credits: from $125 for a Mac mini to $500 for a Power Mac.

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The MyMacPad Web site has information on a future Apple store in space U23 of the Arndale Centre in the city center of Manchester (UK), just 7 miles from the existing suburban Trafford Centre mall store. The Arndale Centre mall was damaged by an IRA terrorist’s bomb on a Saturday morning in 1996, injuring [...]

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A newly-configured version of Apple’s ProCare service will debut at the retail stores this Tuesday, according to the ThinkSecret Web site. Still priced at $99 a year, the revised service renames priority service as “Fast Track,” and adds “Yearly Tune-Up” service to its feature set. ProCare debuted in April 2004, and according to ThinkSecret, Apple [...]

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In an amazing departure from its usual storefront architecture, Apple used stone for the face of the Derby Street Shoppes (Mass.) store that opened today. The V1beta.com Web site has photos of the event, which shows the gray stone that was also used at the San Francisco and Burlingame stores. [The stone is actually a [...]

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