Apple is making it quicker than ever to return unwanted iPhones and other gadgets purchased online with a new policy that gives customers refunds twice as fast.
In an effort to boost direct sales from its website, Apple has decided to take a big upfront cost on returns, according to Reuters, but the small move could give it the boost it needs to compete with Amazon and Best Buy online.
Apple plans to add another iconic location to its list of NYC real estate properties, according to a new report from Gary Allen at Ifo Apple Store.
The newest store location will be at a magnificent former bank building on the Upper East Side of New York City that was designed by architect Henry O. Chapman and offers over 9,000 square-feet of space, plus a vault in the basement – perfect for storing early iPhone 6 shipment.
It’s been a long wait for Angela Ahrendts to finally join Apple, but as the new VP of Retail just took office last week, Apple decided to make her move from fashion to tech much sweeter by granting her stock options worth a whopping $68 million.
Under the watchful eye of Tim Cook Apple’s gone from the most powerful tech company in the world to the most green. Yesterday’s new ad shone the spotlight on Apple’s environmental practices but the true celebrations of going green kicked off today for Earth Day.
Select Apple Stores around the world sprouted green leafed logos to go with new Earth Day shirts and lanyards for Specialists and Geniuses, but rather than driving all the way to your local store we’ve gathered shots of Apple Stores near and far celebrating Apple’s pledge to leave the world better than they found it.
Take a look:
To celebrate the fact that April 22 is Earth Day, Apple has updated its logo to include a green leaf, as seen in the above picture of Apple’s giant Nanjing East retail store in Shanghai.
2014 is the first time in eight years that Apple has celebrated Earth Day. In addition to the revised logo, Apple will also give employes at selected stores special Earth Day shirts to wear. A special event is additionally planned to take place in Cupertino.
Some photos have leaked showing Apple’s first Turkish physical retail store days before it opens.
The images were posted to Instagram by user orbaygumus, and depict a large cuboid glass structure, similar to the glass installations at Apple Stores in New York and Shanghai. All that is currently missing is a giant Apple logo.
Considering their nearly ubiquitous status in retail cuture, it’s easy to forget that the Apple Store is a relatively new creation. Although Apple brought in over $7 billion in revenue last quarter across 400 physical locations, the first one was opened in just 2001… but ever since then, the Apple Store has spread like wildfire across the planet.
Here’s a great reminder of how far Apple has come, courtesy of Business Insider. Watch this animated map showing Apple Stores’ openings internationally. Check out how far the greatest retail success story since Wal-Mart has come!
Source: Business Insider
Employees at the Minneapolis-based FirstTech store — the world’s first Apple reseller — learned on Wednesday that the store will be closing down at the end of March, after 73 years in business.
“I had no idea it would happen this soon,” onetime FirstTech worker Tom Schmidt tweeted. “But I honestly thought it was inevitable.”
Apple has updated the retail section of its website with a new look more closely resembling the design aesthetic of iOS 7.
As can be seen from the comparison above, where previously the page featured content boxes, borders, and gradients, the new version of the page employs plenty of whitespace and a thinner typeface.
Apple is reportedly planning to open a new Apple Store in Eastwood Towne Center, in Lansing Township, Michigan, according to new documents.
A contractor working for Apple recently filed an application with town officials to begin work on an almost 6,000-square-foot retail store at a shopping center at 3025 Preyde Boulevard.
Tyler Fisher is not an Apple employee. In fact, I’m pretty sure the guy doesn’t know the difference between an iPad and an iPod Shuffle, but that didn’t stop him from dressing up as an Apple Specialist, going to work at his local Apple Store, and recording the entire prank as he sprayed customers with misinformation on everything from iPhones having retina scanners, to MacBooks with so much cloud it melted into a puddle that’s perfect for storing your naughty pics.
Not only did Tyler educate Apple Store customers to the “fact” that polio, lyme disease, and syphilis were invented by Apple thanks to the chemical mishmash that goes into MacBooks, but he also offered customers a 75% discount if they knew someone that had the diseases – an apology on Apple’s behalf.
Check out the reactions in the video below:
With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year all now firmly in our rear-view mirrors, Apple is focusing on the next big sales holiday of the year: Valentine’s Day.
Describing the iPad Air and iPad mini as “two ways to your valentine’s heart”, Apple has posted a new ad campaign on the main page of its online store — advising that users take advantage of Apple’s free custom engraving to “include a few love letters on any iPad”.
For the 30th Anniversary of the Mac, it’s not just Cupertino that is getting in on the celebration: Apple retail stores have also been marking the occasion with a special 30th anniversay window display, commemorative black t-shirts, and even special name badges for the employees.
Check out some pictures of the t-shirt and name badges below.
Way back in November, we reported that Apple would start repairing broken iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s screens in-store soon, but while Apple has happily repaired iPhone 5 screens in-store for sometime, the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s have been holdouts up until now.
There’s good news and bad news. The iPhone 5s? Still can’t be repaired at an Apple Store. But the iPhone 5c is a different story. CNN was able to confirm with Apple that screen repairs of the iPhone 5c are available as of Monday (today!) for theprice of $149. If you want to avail yourself of the service, just stop by your local Apple Store.
Source: CNN
A new Apple Store has opened in Brisbane, Australia — representing the fourth to open in Queensland, and the largest in Australia’s Sunshine State.
Around 500 fans queued up for the grand opening ahead of time, with some camping out all night. The second person in line was Apple Store aficionado Gary Allen, who had traveled from California for the opening — which represents his 38th store opening.
We first reported on it back in May last year, and now Apple’s latest Beijing store has finally opened.
The store is located in China Central Place, a large mall area on the east side of Chaoyang district which is home to a number of high-fashion and other luxury brands.
Forget Black Friday or Cyber Monday, New Year in Japan is the time of choice for retailers and shoppers alike — since this means Fukubukuro.
Literally translating as “lucky bag”, fukubukuro gives stores a chance to make room for incoming stock and drum up some publicity by selling off inventory at a massively discounted rate. The catch? That customers hand over their money for a grab bag they have no idea of the contents of.
Apple’s flagship Apple Retail Store in Brisbane, Australia may be less than two weeks away from opening.
Following a period of construction — including a delay — barricade signage has appeared outside the location: usually a surefire indication that launch is imminent.
Apple’s only Berlin store — — located on the city’s lengthy Kurfuerstendamm shopping avenue — has been broken into, with thieves crashing a stolen Opel Corsa through the attractively minimalist (but sadly overly vulnerable) plate glass entrance way this morning, and making off with MacBooks, iPads and iPhones.
As Crocodile Dundee would no doubt say, “That’s not a warranty, this is a warranty.”
Consumer rights watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has accused Apple of misleading Australian consumers about their rights to refunds, replacements, and repairs.
Is nothing sacred in the Samsung vs. Apple clash, we ask you?
It might have recently been ordered to pay Apple $930 million in damages (with a possible side order of Apple legal fees), but Samsung still scored a personal victory this month by hiring away Apple’s senior store designer, Tim Grudgel.
Why do you confuse us like this, Apple?
Renaming the 12 Days of Christmas app “12 Days of Gifts” one moment (just to underline that this is, after all, the holiday of shopping), and then producing what is genuinely one of this winter’s most heartfelt and touching Christmas ads the next — Apple has now further befuddled (and angered) a large group of people by banishing the giant Christmas tree in shopping area De Passage of Netherlands city The Hague.
Apple’s Stonestown Galleria retail store in San Francisco, will reopen at 8am PST Saturday, December 14 — following an expansion that has increased the size of the location to 7,690 square feet.
Two years after the rumors first started swirling, and months after the company began recruiting retail staff, Apple has confirmed on its official website that a new Apple Store is indeed opening in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The Apple Store — which will be Germany’s thirteenth — will open its doors for the first time this Satuday, December 14 at 10am local time.
With holiday shopping season well underway, Apple has chosen a good (and likely not coincidental) time to finally catch up with U.S. demand for the iPhone 5s.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said on Monday that his bi-weekly checks of 60 U.S. Apple retail stores found that the iPhone 5S hit 100% in-stock as of last Wednesday.
