Apple temporarily shutters Philadelphia store during protests

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Apple Store temporarily closed.
Store will be closed through November 4.
Photo: Apple

Apple temporarily shuttered its Apple Walnut Street retail store in Philadelphia as the city is rocked by protests and riots following the killing of a black man, Walter Wallace Jr., by police.

According to Apple’s website, the store is closed from now through at least November 4. An asterisk on the page lists this as “special store hours.”

The National Guard and police reinforcements have been deployed in the city. According to a BBC report, police say protesters of ransacking and looting local businesses over the past three days. While the protests typically start peacefully earlier in the day, the confrontations grow more heated as the days wore on. Many local businesses closed early and will not reopen immediately.

This isn’t the first time Apple temporarily closed its retail stores as a result of similar protests. Earlier this year, Apple briefly closed a large number of its U.S. stores during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. At the time, Apple said, “With the health and safety of our teams in mind, we’ve made the decision to keep a number of our stores in the US closed.”

Apple also this month announced that the Apple Uptown location in Minneapolis is closed for good. It has been shuttered since March, but Apple recently informed staff that it will never reopen. This may be the result of the double hit of COVID-19 and protests.

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