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New York City Apple Store sued over alleged racial profiling incident
An Apple Store in New York City's Upper West Side has been sued by two customers after an alleged case of racial profiling. AppleInsider reports that two African-American men were told, in no uncertain terms, that they were not welcome in the store. The pair believes that their race was the deciding factor. According to the plaintiffs, 34-year-old Brian Johnston and 25-year-old Nile Charles, an Apple Store employee told them, "You know the deal. And before you say I'm racially discriminating against you, let me stop you. I am discriminating against you. I don't want 'your kind' hanging out in the store." Johnston and Charles allegedly began recording the incident on their cell phones, prompting another employee to tell them to leave and to "consider me God." The men also claim that when they addressed the store manager, he had store security call 911. The incident allegedly took place on December 9 of last year at 3:20 PM, and the suit was filed last February. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary compensation for "emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life and other non-pecuniary losses." [hat tip Gothamist]
Macworld Australia confirms future Apple Store
Australia may be home to several new Apple retail stores this year. The latest Apple retail store was spotted in Melbourne's Westfield Southland Mall. According to Macworld Australia, construction is beginning on the retail storefront, and the store will be ready for sales later this year. Apple has not commented on this expansion, but a Westfield employee confirmed off the record that Apple is behind these renovations. Apple is also opening a larger, flagship store in the Crown Casino area of Melbourne and is hiring staff to fill new retail positions in or around Melbourne. Apple already operates 10 retail stores in Australia and may be adding additional stores in cities of Brisbane and Sydney as well.
Apple Store app updated with new options
Apple has updated its Apple Store iPhone app. The update incorporates several new features, including an enhanced in-store mode that lets users get help and support quickly when they're at an Apple Retail Store. The app also allows users to custom-configure a new Mac with build-to-order options (such as more RAM or a larger hard drive). The Apple Store app is also debuting in many European countries, having previously been limited to the US. The app is a free download.
Apple's interactive iPad displays -- a video of one in action
Yesterday we told you that Apple Stores across the globe have swapped their paper signage with interactive iPad displays. The new iPad displays allow shoppers to view product information, compare products and even call Apple Store employes to customers who need assistance. As always, with anything interactive, it's better to see it than read about it, so check out the video on the next page that was sent to us by Graham of Glasshouse Apps.
Apple to launch Back to School promo next week
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple will begin its annual back-to-school promotions next week. The promotions typically run from late May/early June to the first week in September. Shoppers can probably expect a free or discounted iPod touch when a Mac is purchased, as that is usually what Apple has offered in years past. AppleInsider didn't list a specific date for this year's launch, but past year's back-to-school promotions have launched as early as May 25, and as late as June 5. The promotions usually wrap in early September -- or about a week before Apple launches new iPods. When Apple does announce the dates of this year's back-to-school promotions, you can bet that not only will the new iPod touches not ship before the end of the promotion, but probably the next iPhone and launch of iOS 5 will not occur before then as well. Apple is rumored to be consolidating its iPhone and iPod touch launch events.
Apple planning huge Brisbane, Australia Apple Store
Apple is set to open its largest Australian Apple store in the historic MacArthur Chambers according to papers filed with Brisbane City Council. While the plans don't mention Apple by name, and in fact were filed on behalf of the MacArthur Central Shopping Centre, the details of the plans all point to an Apple store. Among the plan highlights that suggest an Apple store are "feature stairs" ala the staircase in the 5th Avenue New York Store and "new colour scheme of shades of white." The plans also mention stone floors, twin glass doors, and a space for what are presumably Genius Bars. The total size of the store would be 1900sqm, making it the largest in Australia. The MacArthur Chambers building itself has historic connection to World War 2. General Douglas MacArthur commandeered it in 1942 and it was used as an Allied Forces' headquarters until 1944. Apple isn't pushing the history of the building to the wayside either. The plans for the store also include a $3.8 million addendum to remove the "current modern additions" and return the space to its original form. Those plans include getting rid of the tiled ceilings and escalators and restoring the original stone wall panels and bronze doors. There's no word yet on when the store might open.
Cast of Disney's "Lemonade Mouth" starts flash mob at Apple store
It was another quiet afternoon at the Apple retail store at The Grove in Los Angeles, CA -- or as quiet as an Apple store can be on a busy day -- when all of a sudden, a flash mob began singing and dancing the song "Determinate" from the Disney Channel production Lemonade Mouth over Easter weekend. Chris Brochu and Hayley Kiyoko, two of the film's stars, organized the surprise appearance with about 15 of their friends and captured their entire performance on video. The choreographed song and dance number drew a mix of befuddled and delighted looks from shoppers and ended when three unfortunate Apple employees were inclined to politely escort the mob out of the store.
Apple planning May event to celebrate its 10-year retail anniversary
Get your glad rags out, because it looks like Apple's preparing to celebrate the 10th birthday of its first retail stores at the end of next month. Employees have been told they can't request any vacation time in late May, possibly because Apple's planning some sort of event to mark the anniversary. The first Apple Retail Stores launched on May 19, 2001 in McLean, Virginia's Tyson's Corner Mall and at the Galleria in Glendale, California. The Glendale store has even achieved cult status now with the store number designation 001. It is possible that the holiday blackout is due to a new product launch; new Sandy Bridge iMacs are due, and there's always the iPhone 5. However, the iMac doesn't seem special enough to stop all staff going on holiday, and the iPhone 5 now seems more likely for September. The most recent holiday blackouts were for the Verizon iPhone 4 and the iPad 2. If Apple is planning a birthday party for its retail stores, will you be going along? How do you think Apple should mark the anniversary? Let us know in the comments. (Edited to fix store name.)
Two new Apple Stores coming to Ontario, Canada
It's always nice when a TUAW reader tips us off to a rumor of a new North American Apple Store, and it's especially cool when the rumor includes two new stores. In this case, Canadian reader Noah let us know that he was looking at job postings on Apple's site and found two new stores in Ontario listed with the information "New Stores, New Opportunities." A quick look at the Canadian job listings for Apple retail stores shows that the stores will be in Waterloo (Conestoga) and Burlington (Mapleview Centre), Ontario. If you're a reader in the Waterloo-Kitchener or Burlington areas near Toronto who is looking for employment with Apple, this could be your opportunity.
Hong Kong Apple Store locations revealed
ifoAppleStore has discovered the locations of Apple's first and second Hong Kong stores. The first location is in the International Finance Centre on Hong Kong Island. The IFC comprises two towers that include office buildings, a mall and a cinema. The Apple Store will be located in Tower 2 and span 6,300 square feet. The IFC store will be open by year's end. The second Apple Store to open in Hong Kong will also be on Hong Kong Island in the area known as Causeway Bay. The Apple Store will be located in Hysan Place, an environmentally friendly block-sized building. The Apple Store there will span 20,000 square feet. According to the developers, Hysan Place is expected to be finished in the second quarter of 2012, which is likely when the Apple Store will open.
iPhone 4 to hit India via Bharti Airtel Ltd, Aircel
The iPhone 4 may land in India in the coming months according to a report from Reuters. Both Bharti Airtel and smaller rival Aircel confirmed they would soon carry the iPhone 4. Unfortunately, residents of India who want to mark a launch date on their calendar will have to wait as neither carrier announced an exact availability date for Apple's popular smartphone. The iPhone is not new to this country; previous versions of the iPhone are available from Bharti and Vodafone Essar. Apple's move to bring the iPhone 4 to India should help boost sales as the Indian mobile phone market is prime for growth in the upcoming years. Carriers are rolling out high-speed 3G networks, and smartphones account for a mere 5 percent of all mobile sales. A staggering 95 percent of cell phone owner are prospective future iPhone and smartphone owners. Overall, India boasts 800 million mobile phone subscribers. Bharti alone has 159 million, while Aircel has 53.5 million.
Apple set to open massive European flagship store in Liechtenstein
It may be one of the smallest countries in Europe, but Vaduz, Liechtenstein will soon host Apple's largest European flagship Apple Store. The store, which will be located adjacent to the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein's Museum of Modern Art) and open in September, will be even larger than London's 28,000 square-foot Regent Street Apple Store, measuring 43,000 square feet. The first floor will be dedicated to showcasing Apple products, while the second floor will be comprised of multiple Genius Bars and staffed by over 100 multilingual Geniuses. The third floor will reportedly be an interesting mix of technology and art, including what might be a shared theater/gallery with the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein as well as a state-of-the-art digital library using iBooks sharing. The library was added to the plans at the last minute when Apple found out Liechtenstein is one of only two countries in the world with a 100 percent literacy rate (interestingly, this is probably the reason Apple is rumored to be requiring all future iBooks to be uploaded into the iBookstore in both English and Alemannic German).
Arkansas to get its first Apple Retail Store
This is going to make our readers in The Natural State very happy. Apple is set to open its first retail store in Arkansas. The store will be located in The Promenade at Chenal Mall in Little Rock, reports ifoAppleStore. While there is no hard opening date yet, all signs point to an October launch. In 2007, a year before the Chenal Mall opened, "Apple" was listed as a tenant, but the store failed to materialize by the time the mall opened in 2008, despite Apple filing for a building permit in November 2007 and posting job listings in January 2008. However, after new job postings for the Little Rock Apple Store surfaced last week, it appears the store is back on. After the opening of the Arkansas store and a store in Anchorage, AK in September, as MacRumors notes, there will only be six states in the US still without an Apple retail store: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Apple's rumored store plans for Grand Central not happening?
The New York dream of shopping for an iPad 2 on the commute to work appears to have come to an end, according to a report by The New York Observer. An anonymous source within New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) says Apple ended plans to open a 16,000 square foot high-profile store in the balconies of Manhattan's historic Grand Central Terminal last week. Rumors of an Apple retail store coming to New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often referred to as Grand Central Station, began in early February with a report by Laura Kusisto in The New York Observer. Grand Central Terminal appeared to be an ideal candidate for Apple's fifth Manhattan location. It's the largest terminal in the United States, with up to 700,000 visitors a day, and it already hosts 68 retail shops and 35 restaurants. At Park Avenue and East 42nd Street, the landmark terminal is less than one mile away from Apple's Fifth Avenue store, which draws the most traffic among Apple's four shops in Manhattan and sells more product than its three sister stores combined, according to ifoAppleStore. Presumably, the originally planned Grand Central location would have shared the incredibly heavy traffic of the crowded Fifth Avenue store. However, the complex and controversial process for applying for retail space in Grand Central may be responsible for undoing the deal, which never passed preliminary negotiations. Grand Central Terminal is classified as a historic landmark and tenants must sacrifice quite a bit of control to the MTA, including decisions about menu items, store design, architecture, lighting and store hours. Despite the excellent location and high foot traffic in Grand Central Terminal and Apple's proven ability to adapt its store designs to be more historically sensitive, it isn't in Apple's nature to give up so much control to another party. The New York MTA, Apple and Landmarks Preservation were not available to comment about the deal, but Executive Vice President and Principal of Newmark Knight Frank Retail, Jeffrey Roseman, appeared to confirm Apple's abandonment of the Grand Central project via Twitter on Thursday. "Lets see if Apple NOT coming to Grand Central, gets as much press as it got, when the rumor started," said Roseman. [via BetaBeat]
Apple offers original iPad donation program
With the successful launch of the iPad 2 behind us now, many original iPad owners who upgraded to the new tablet are attempting to "repurpose" their old device. For some, that's as simple as handing the iPad to a spouse, significant other or child. Others are having success selling their iPads through a variety of methods, recovering part of the cost of the new device. Apple now has a program that can match your obsolete iPad with someone who really needs it -- an educator in a low-income school district. Through a link on the Apple Retail web page, Apple is directing those who want to share the magic of the iPad with an appreciative audience to the Teach For America website. All you need to do is grab your original iPad and bring it to an Apple Store to donate it. The device will be prepared and delivered to a needy school district, ready for use by a teacher or students. There's no word on the Teach For America or Apple Retail web pages on whether or not your donation is tax-deductible, but you may want to check with the Apple Retail personnel to see if there's a form available for claiming that deduction. [via MacNN]
Apple may drop peripherals and some games from its retail stores
According to The Loop, quoting sources inside Apple, Apple Stores will be clearing out over 30 boxed games and some hardware items from retail shelves soon. The changes are the result of Apple wanting more room to help customers set up their new purchases, get email up and running, and basically familiarize new owners with their gear. To make room, Apple stores will drop printers, scanners and maybe even some hard drives from the display area. The items will still be in stock, but not out front where they take up valuable retail space. Most games are also likely to be dropped, with Apple retail employees suggesting the online Mac App Store as a good place to find them It's hard to fault Apple for these decisions. Most of the peripherals can be found at lower prices online. Getting people better and more personalized service seems like a good use of the retail space. The only caveat is that most of the stores are really noisy, and I'm hoping Apple can 'think different' about a way to reduce the racket in the stores so that training and setup can be a bit more pleasant.
Apple's Joint Venture small business service plan launches quietly
Apple's new service for small businesses moving to Mac, Joint Venture, appears to be off the ground. The service starts at US$499 for up to five systems, although complete pricing details are not immediately visible on the web page touting Joint Venture. So, what does Joint Venture provide for the small business that wants to buy Macs? Pretty much everything. To begin with, the Apple Store that you work with will set up all of the new Macs "usually within 24 hours." The setup includes moving data from an existing Mac or PC, and installation of any software that you purchase through Apple. Apple also sets up a unique Joint Venture page for your company, on which you can set up training for your employees, book appointments with a Genius or Business Specialist at the store, sign up for workshops or get tech support. The training consists of up to three two-hour sessions, held at the Apple Store, for your employees. The classes are rather general in nature, but according to the Joint Venture web page, the staff will work with businesses to customize the training. There are also Getting Started workshops held on a regular basis that are designed to bring new employees up to speed on using Apple products. As for tech support, Joint Venture gives business owners access to the Genius Bar via phone (or in-store visit). The service will even provide loaner machines while your computer is "in the shop." Like Apple's alliance with OnForce, the Joint Venture program has the potential to cut into the business of Apple Consultants Network (ACN) members. For many ACNs, the initial setup of Macs at a customer site is not only a way to gain revenue, but also provide training to new employees at a firm and integrate the new Macs into an overall system design. Troubleshooting and resolution of issues at a client's location is also the bread-and-butter of many ACN members, and now that service has the potential of being sidetracked by the Joint Venture program.
Apple to open new stores in Italy
Apple is planning to open yet another new Apple Store in Italy, this time in Sicily, according to job adverts spotted on the company's website. Along with job ads for the new store in Bologna, Apple is looking for staff to work in an as-yet unannounced store in Sicily. Local newspapers are speculating that the store will be in the town of Catania, near the volcano Mount Etna, and it will open by the end of summer 2011. Looks like that will put an end to Apple's new store dry spell. [via MacStories]
Apple to unveil JointVenture, a small business repair service
We reported last week that Apple had scheduled a meeting for all its retail employees. The meeting was held this weekend, and the Cupertino company reportedly used this meeting to detail a new enterprise-oriented service called JointVenture. The program supposedly targets small businesses and lets them purchase a premium repair and training service for $500 per year. It sounds vaguely familiar to Apple's ProCare service. For this sum, customers will reportedly receive priority Genius bar service, which pushes them to the top of the service queue and provides them with a loaner unit if a repair is to take longer than 24 hours. JointVenture customers may also be able to access a Genius-manned telephone support service and a limited number of group training sessions per year. The new service is rumored to launch on March 2 in the US and March 3 in the U.K. Additional details may be unveiled at Apple's March 2 event slated to be held in the Yerba Buena Center located in San Francisco, California.
Apple opening store in Anchorage, Alaska
Apple will open its most northerly store in Anchorage, Alaska, later this year according to ifoAppleStore. It will be nearly 300 miles north of the current most northerly store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. Apple is currently advertising for retail staff to work in the space that it's taking over from the Eddie Bauer chain (don't worry, Eddie Bauer is only moving downstairs) in the city's Fifth Avenue Mall. At 61 degrees north, Anchorage is about 600 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The new Apple Store seems likely to remain its most northerly outpost for a while unless the citizens of Murmansk get up a petition to be granted their own Genius Bar.
