A gust of window reportedly caught one of the front glass doors at the Sydney (Australia) retail store, sending it whipping into an adjacent pane of glass and cracking it from top to bottom. The glass panel is about 12-feet tall and four feet wide, and is set between the store’s two front, double-doors. Photos of the cracked panel on flickr show the damage may have started at the bottom edge, adjacent to the hinge hardware for the left set of doors. The glass then cracked upward and diagonally across the pane to the top edge. The photos also show that the glass was later covered with white plastic. Check the location of the glass panel after the break. read more…

The Engadget Web site reports that at least 10 persons formed a waiting line on Friday evening at the Fifth Avenue (NYC) retail store for the debut of the iPhone 3G next Friday. A video interview with Daniel from Brooklyn reveals that he wants to break a world’s record for a waiting line duration, although he also seems to have other agendas. It’s not clear if Daniel or anyone else in the waiting line will actually purchase an iPhone when they finally get inside the store. The weather is in the low 70s overnight, but the weekend forecast is for thunderstorms and rain.

A change in the sales contract between Apple and AT&T has raised questions about the efficiency of sales for the iPhone 3G when it first goes on sale July 11th. According to both companies, buyers will be required to select a service plan before they leave the store, including providing information to complete a credit check and port any previous telephone number to the new plan. The purchase could also include physical activation of the phone within the store. Previously, iPhone buyers simply purchased the iPhone in a box, and then had the pleasure of unboxing the phone at home, and took care of all service and activation at home using the iTunes application. AT&T has posted a Web page detailing the purchase process, and has even posted a flyer (pdf) of complicated “iReady” instructions for buyers. Apple’s retail initiative is based on “surprise and delight,” which observers feel may be impossible to fulfill if the new iPhone 3G must be unboxed in the store, and if long lines form on debut Friday.

Interest in Apple’s retail stores is international in scope, including in Beijing (China), where the company’s latest store will open at The Village at Sanlitun shopping complex northeast of city center on July 19th. Now the France-based MacPlus.net Web site has posted interior photos of the future three-level store, including the glass staircase, back-lit wall graphics and stainless steel interior panels. Apple’s store will join several other international retailers, including Nike, Montblanc, Sephora, Addidas (company’s largest at 34,000 square-feet, opening midnight on July 5th, photo) and Zara. Check a photo after the break, and see MacPlus.net for other photos. read more…

For those who escape Los Angeles and head east to the inland desert resort communities, 2009 will bring an Apple store for you to browse. According to tipsters, Apple will locate a store at the future El Paseo Village (Palm Desert) shopping center, the second phase of a smallish development by the Davis Street Land Company. The city, and its companion Palm Springs, have high-income residents, and also draw wealthy visitors who enjoy warm temperatures and golf. Construction on the downtown, single-story, street-level shopping center will begin this fall, with a scheduled completion date in fall, 2009.

The assembly of a new Apple store involves putting very finely-crafted pieces together with very little space between the components, much like a Powerbook. That process is no better explained than some notations on the side of crates of glass that just arrived at the future Royal Hawaiian (Honolulu) retail store. In felt-tip pen someone has written the dimensions of two panes of glass, apparently for the front window, indicating they were cut to tolerances of 1/32nd of an inch. One pane is a whopping 7-feet by 10-feet, while the second is somewhat narrower. Check the photo after the break. read more…

Apple’s international retail initiative continues this Saturday with the grand opening of the West Edmonton Mall (Alb.) store, the sixth store in the country. Mall management bills the location as “the world’s largest shopping and entertainment centre,” drawing visitors from a wide area to its 800 tenants, including a water park and IMAX theater. The doors open at 10 a.m.

An epic video of the Sydney (Australia) store grand opening has now been posted, detailing the overnight waiting line, the growing daytime line, the passersby, the mounting excitement as 5 p.m. approached, singing store employees and, finally, the manager’s welcome. At over 13 minutes, it’s all there.

The eBay auction site is listing at least nine commemorative T-shirts for sale from the Sydney (Australia) retail store grand opening, along with three completed auctions that fetched a high bid of $60. The Bondi blue-colored shirts feature an iPod “wave” design and were handed out to the first 2,500 persons to attended the grand opening. Many of the T-shirt listings describe the shirts as “rare” or a “collector’s item.” As of June 28th the highest completed bid is $88, although one “Buy It Now” T-shirt is posted at $144.

Apple retail executives have distributed a memo to all stores with anticipated customer questions on the upcoming debut of the company’s iPhone 3G, and suggested responses that store employees may provide. According to a post on AppleInsider, the information mirrors similar answers provided before the June, 2007 launch of the first iPhone model, but doesn’t give any clues on new activation procedures announced earlier, and intended to reduce unregistered phone purchases. Apple is keen to provide an excellent customer experience both with its products and in its retail stores, and should be expected to streamline the purchase and activation process accordingly.

More details are emerging on the major upgrade planned for the Third Street Promenade store in Santa Monica (S. Calif.). The store is already classified as “large,” along a pedestrian-only street in the coastal city west of Los Angeles, drawing celebrities and ordinary folk alike. In April tipsters said the renovated store will have two levels and a glass staircase, turning the store into a high-profile location. Now certain personnel details have been revealed: the store manager has been replaced, and some full-time staffers will be relocated to other LA-area stores during the closure. However, not everyone will make the cut. Some full-time employees and all the part-time staff will be laid off, although Apple will make some seasonal work available to them. When the store reopens, perhaps a year later, the company will begin the hiring process all over again, accepting applications, interviewing candidates and hiring employees–even personnel who previously worked at the store.

For several years California’s agriculturally-oriented Central Valley was served by just a single store in Sacramento, but that ended with the grand opening of the Fashion Fair (Fresno) store in June, 2007. Now Apple plans to open another store to serve the valley at the Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto (N. Calif.), about halfway between the two existing stores. The city has a metro population of nearly 450,000, and the 1 million square-foot mall operated by Macerich draws shoppers from a wide area to the its 165 shops. The store will open in early 2009.

Construction on the Liverpool One (UK) retail store is nearly finished, according to a collection of photos provided by Apple store enthusiasts in the city. The lower part of the store is covered with black wood barricade panels, but the upper part of the store reveals more–the storefront glass covered with black plastic, including the trademark back-lit Apple logo. read more…

Police in Woodcliff Lake (NJ) responded to a 3 a.m. burglary alarm at the Tice’s Corner Apple store on June 17th, and arrested three men they found after a search. Officers arrived to find that the suspects had entered an empty furniture store next to Apple’s space, and had used pry bars, sledgehammers, saws and other tools to smash through the wall so they could enter the store. Several duffle bags had been filled with Apple products, police said, before an alarm at the store sounded, apparently sending the suspects fleeing. Two men were arrested in a nearby car, and a third was tracked to a storm drain by police canine unit. Police believe there was a fourth suspect and are trying to identify him. They are also investigating if the suspects are linked to a previous jewelry store burglary that was similarly entered. The Apple store was closed the day of the burglary so the wall could be repaired.

Interior construction work on the future King Street retail store in Charleston (SC) is progressing, according to photos of the narrow store provided by Nick. The storefront is covered by the usual black construction barricade, but interior photos show that most of the sidewall display furniture has been installed, and plywood on the floor suggests that the stone flooring has also been laid down. The store will open before the Thanksgiving holiday. read more…

The second store for San Antonio (Tex.) will hold its grand opening this Saturday at 10 a.m. at the North Star Mall on the city’s north side. Texas, one of Apple’s favorites, will now have 14 stores. The store is just 34 feet wide, but is over 118 feet deep, allowing it to accommodate a back-of-house board room, offices and kitchen. The grand opening will feature the traditional commemorative T-shirts for the first 1,000 attendees.

The front glass display windows arrived at the future Montreal (Canada) retail store on Ste. Catherine Street this week, and the process was recorded in rare photos by Rémy. The glass arrived in a large orange container, and were hoisted from wooden crates high over the street, and then behind the two-story black wooden barricade that has hidden construction since late last year. A large crowd watched as the panels moved out of view, corralled by police to prevent any possibility of injury. Based on construction progress, the store could open in July.

(Sydney, Australia, Friday, 9:00 a.m.) — The grand opening of the Sydney (Australia) is over, but a large crowd, accommodating weather and an amazing store helped make it among Apple’s best events. Cloudy weather turned to sun at mid-day Thursday, then back to overcast before the opening–and then to rain just after the first 200 walked into the store. There were several hundred in line at the opening hour, along with hundreds more spectators along the sidewalk. The inside of the store certainly doesn’t feel spacious, but it’s laid out efficiently. Once we passed beyond the landmark glass façade, the real treasure was the pair of hidden glass staircases–they are amazing from so many different angles. Read my preliminary report here, be be sure to read this story’s comments from visitors, and see the next page for photos. read more…

Photos of the soon-to-open Sydney (Australia) store show a very shallow ground floor, perhaps just 15 feet deep, with room for just one row of display tables. However, the store is very wide, perhaps 75 feet. Presumably the upper two levels are full-size.

Workers began removing the Bondi blue plastic covering over the glass façade of the Sydney (Australia) retail store late Sunday night, four days before the store’s grand opening. Using a combination of scissor lifts and boswain chairs, the workers slowly pulled the material off the glass to reveal a tall, three store concrete building structure, stainless steel interior trim, and a giant back-lit Apple logo suspended in the center of the huge glass window. The interior of the store itself is still a secret–photos posted on the MacTalk Australia forum show black plastic hangs from the ceiling blocking any view inside. The store is just the third three-level store that Apple has opened, and is expected to have an interior glass staircase.