The chain of Apple Premium Resellers now extends to Taiwan, with the grand opening of the Studio A store in Taipei today. The store features the typical wood floors, white furniture and walls, and pegboard accessory displays. The grand opening began with a formal ribbon-cutting, and continued inside with employees with black polo shirts, a [...]

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The story is not that a large group of zoobies periodically forms up in downtown San Francisco to wander the streets seeking victims. It’s also not notable that security guards throughout the downtown throw up a cordon to prevent the un-dead from coming into their stores, including the Disney Store, The Gap and the giant [...]

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In the first acknowledgment of congestion at Apple retail stores, the company announced today that it is now blocking access to the MySpace Web site from stores’ display computers. “Nearly 2 million people visit Apple stores every week. We want to provide everyone a chance to test-drive a Mac, so we are no longer offering [...]

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The preferred location for new Apple stores seems to be huge, mixed-use developments that combine retail, residential, office, hotel and entertainment spaces. And in fact, Apple has plans for its newest Fort Worth-area store at the under-construction Museum Place “urban village” just west of downtown. The village will include about 28 retail spaces covering 110,000 [...]

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The location of the second Italy Apple store has been identified by the setteB.IT Web site: the Campania shopping mall now under construction in Marcianise, about 10 miles north of Naples. The shopping mall is being constructed by Netherlands-based Corio Group, and is scheduled to open mid-September.

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On the heels of speculation about a second Sacramento (Calif.) area store, a third store has been confirmed at the Galleria at Roseville mall. The 1.1 million square-foot shopping center northeast of the state capital is adding 487,000 square-feet, and recently confirmed that Apple will be a future tenant. The area is growing rapidly with [...]

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Another round of store closures are planned for floor plan changes, including at the Country Club Plaza (Mo.) store, the SouthPark (NC) store, and the Lenox Square (Geo.) store. Meanwhile, the Somerset (Mich.) store re-opens on June 2nd after 91 days of construction, sporting a new stone floor, wood display tables and stainless steel interior.

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Just three months after announcing it would close over one-half of its store, computer retailer CompUSA announced it will drastically narrow its customer focus to three tech-oriented groups that include small and medium-sized businesses, and which does not include ordinary consumers. In a press release, the company said it was “responding to (a) growing market [...]

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A survey of 5,129 readers of Macworld magazine readers found that those with computer problems rated Apple’s retail stores high on courtesy, resolution of the problem and knowledge, but low on promptness. Among those reporting problems, 34% took their computer to an Apple store, 29% to an Apple authorized service provider, 25% telephoned AppleCare, 23% [...]

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Dell Inc. CEO Michael Dell told an interviewer from crn.com that the company is going to be “quite aggressive” on expanding its retail operation, and expects to open inside “a lot more” retail locations in the U.S. and other countries. Dell talked at length about direct and indirect channels, partners and distributors. When asked about [...]

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Yet another financial analyst had a sit-down with Apple executives, who reiterated that the iPhone would be available only at Apple’s retail stores and AT&T’s own stores–180 of the former and 1,840 of the latter. The hardware and software features of the phone will be just one attraction for buyers. Sr. VP Retail Ron Johnson [...]

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Apple has posted session information and registration for its annual Apple Camp, designed for children 8 to 12 years-old. The sessions focus on podcasting, iWeb, music and movies, last two and one-half hours, and are scheduled at 9 a.m. between July 9th and 19th. Check the official Web page.

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You may have noticed that Apple stores literally buzz with energy, some from the products, some from the visitors and some from the music played over the stores’ high-end sound system. The music changes each quarter, with a list of about 150 songs providing variety throughout the shopping day. Now you can review a list [...]

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Developers of the Palladio at Broadstone mall in the Sacramento (N. Calif.) suburb of Folsom have penciled in Apple as a possible future tenant. The Main Street-style destination center will include over 750,000 square-feet of retail space, as well as a medical complex. Construction is just under way and could take a year to complete. [...]

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Apple’s retail stores at The Shops at Mission Viejo (S. Calif.) and Victoria Gardens (Rancho Cucamonga, S. Calif.) are closed from May 14th to 18th for a floor plan renovation. Usually this short a closure indicates a Genius Bar move and some other re-arrangements of display furniture. [Commenters provide photos of Victoria Gardens [photo #1 [...]

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Apple wants to increase European segment revenue by 25 percent during fiscal 2007, helped by a doubling of Premium Resellers, more stores-within-a-store and the launch of iTunes Video. As reported by the macgeneration Web site, Pascal Cagni (Apple VP and General Manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa) told Les Echos newspaper the company’s revenue [...]

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One of the world’s best-known brands is taking its retail initiative to the world’s largest entertainment and shopping complex: the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta (Canada). A lease has been signed for a space somewhere inside the huge 5.3 million square-foot complex which includes 800 tenants spanning the full range of American and international retailers, [...]

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A strange hybrid retail space has opened in Hamburg (Germany), combining Apple’s products and retail design with the giant Saturn electronics retailer to create an “Apple Shop.” The partnership puts wooden display tables, a Genius Bar and black stools and back-lit Apple logos within 260 square-feet, in the middle of Saturn’s store on Monckebergstrasse. Even [...]

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Apple’s retail store’s have finally reached the $1 billion mark for lease commitments, according to the company’s latest financial filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The figure is an increase of $94 million from the previous quarter, and represents a doubling of commitments since the first quarter of 2005 when there were [...]

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