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Apple Retail scheduled to launch Personal Pickup for iPhone 5 tonight (Update: Confirmed by Apple)

Dan DeSilva

If you missed purchasing an iPhone 5 this weekend, we might have some good news for you. We are hearing Apple expects to launch its in-store product reservation system, Personal Pickup, for iPhone 5 tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern. Customers can use the Apple Store app or website between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. nightly to pre-purchase available iPhone 5 inventory for the next day. Because customers are actually purchasing the iPhone, they will have upwards of two weeks to pick up the phone (when it becomes available).

This certainly seems to be the best way to get your hands on Apple’s newest phone as ship times at Apple.com are still delayed “3-4 weeks”. Demand has been extremely high for this phone, so we recommend logging on to the reservation system as it becomes available.

Update:  It appears Apple’s iPhone 5 Personal Pickup page has been updated ahead of the 10 p.m. launch.  It reaffirms the reservation process which we outlined early this afternoon.  All pre-purchased iPhone 5 units will be available for in-store pickup the next business day and any units not pre-purchased will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Apple’s Black Friday Retail Store Sales were “off the charts”

Seth Weintraub


We obviously had to white out numbers above – From Apple’s Retail inventory system.

A source inside Apple Retail has shared with us the numbers for Apple’s Black Friday sales event.  Black Friday is always huge shopping day and Apple forecasted at least 4X sales for the day.  However, because Apple did have the lowest prices on big ticket items like the iPad, it blew away forecasts by 7PM and unsurprisingly had its biggest sales day of all time..

Apple Retail was forecast and broke Retail sales records all over the country today, this is from [redacted] today, the forecast today is more than 4 times what we normally do. We broke the forecast by 7pm.

MacBook Air sales were also particularly strong according to our source.

Apple Store discounts are extremely rare and with more Stores open than ever before, the temptation was too much for many. Read more

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Apple Retail to construct “Express Lanes” during overnight tonight

Dan DeSilva

We have just learned that Apple retail stores are having an “overnight” tonight to setup new Express Lanes.  Apple has used these express lanes in the past to provide holiday shoppers a fast track to purchase Apple products and accessories.  The zone are typically staffed with several Apple Specialists and stock popular laptop models, every iPad and iPod model.

The fact that Apple is using the express lane again this year is a bit interesting because the new Apple Store app was released today, which adds self-checkout and in store pickup.

Alternatively, the brand new Hong Kong Apple store is so busy that it has a year-round express counter (above). Several tipsters have confirmed the overnight and hinted that there may be more in the coming weeks. Don’t get too excited though, this doesn’t mean new Apple products are on the horizon.  Subsequent overnights will probably used to install holiday marketing materials; large banners, easel poster, and device screen-savers.  Two more Express Lane images below… Read more

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Apple Store Grand Central closer to opening

Dan DeSilva

Apple is beginning to prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season by putting the final touches on several retail locations and reinventing the way their visitors buy Apple gear.  Most notable is opening up a flagship store in New York’s iconic Grand Central Station.  Why is Grand Central such a big deal, especially when there are already Apple Stores in New York in affluent neighborhoods?  Here are some quick facts on Grand Central:

  1. 750,000 people pass through Grand Central daily and over 1,000,000 people during the holidays
  2. Mean household income for Grand Central Terminal commuters is $95,800; 50% of household incomes are over $100,000, and 20% are over $200,000.
  3. The captive shopping population of more than 326,000 neighborhood office workers earn a combined $11.3 billion a year.
  4. An average 7,500 people an hour pass the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, making it one of the busiest intersections in the city.
  5. 21.6 million out-of-town tourists, with a mean income of $62,000, visit Grand Central each year.
  6. Grand Central is served by Metro-North commuter trains, 31 commuter and 15 city bus routes, 7 subway lines, buses to and from the area’s three airports, and two million taxis a year.
  7. Grand Central Terminal subway station is the busiest stop in the New York City subway system.

The future Grand Central Station Apple Store is progressing towards an end of November opening.  Future employees for the store have been going through their “Core” training for the past several weeks at a hotel in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan… Read more

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Apple launching “EasyTheft” and Ship to Store systems November 3rd, holding overnight right now to talk details

Jake Smith

Following our reports last week of Apple’s Ship to Store system being rolled out in San Francisco, we have learned this evening that Apple plans to rollout the new system to all regions this Thursday, November 3rd. The Ship to Store system will allow customers to place an order for a product on Apple’s Online Store and then pick up their purchase at their local Apple Store within the hour.

Customers will also be able to purchase cheaper products like cases on their own inside the store without having to deal with a sales rep, using their iOS device that has a camera. The processing of the purchase will be done through Apple’s updated retail app that will launch before Thursday. Internally this new system is being dubbed “EasyTheft”, based off a pun of Apple’s “EasyPay” system they use in-store to process sales.

We have also learned that Apple is holding an overnight tonight at their retail stores to talk specifics of the new “EasyTheft” system and rearrange accessories that will be available for purchase. We look forward to seeing the new systems in all U.S. retail markets this Thursday.

Thanks Danny!

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Grand-opening of the flagship Hong Kong Apple Store at IFC Center (Video roundup)

Jake Smith

Apple’s flagship Store in Hong Kong just opened in the IFC Center this morning (Hong Kong time). The new Store certainly seems like a pretty big deal to the locals who’ve been lined up for days.

Early this week we published pictures of the beautiful architecture at this new Store. Below, you’ll find some of the videos uploaded around the web showing the excitement in the air at launch:

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