New York City

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It appears that Apple isn’t satisfied with the progress on the Grand Central Apple Store and is postponing the opening at least a week perhaps more.  Clearly, Apple would have preferred to have another huge venue open for Black Friday but we’ve been told by a GC Apple employee today that they’ve been told to continue working at other New York Area Apple Stores during Black Friday weekend.

Last weekend, a group of employees was told that the opening announcement was scheduled for today and Apple was going to try to open for Black Friday.

On the other hand, it is good to have an abundance of Apple Store workers on hand at the other NYC Apple Stores for the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

We’re sorry we got your hopes up and we’re still hoping to see the store open next week.

Update: Mashable spoke to a construction worker who has said as much.

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As Apple’s former retail chief Ron Johnson sets its sights on re-inventing the shopping experience at the J.C. Penney department stores and the search for his replacement continues, the Cupertino, California-headquartered gadget designer isn’t resting on its laurels. Future plans call for continuation of an aggressive retail expansion that includes 40 new stores during fiscal 2012, thirty of them outside the United States.
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Update: We’ve been told there has been a delay.

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We reported on the construction progress of the future Apple grand Central store earlier this month and have since received further information and pictures from our  trip to the location and from the tech blog, Techfootnote. Both sources grabbed shots of the upcoming Grand Central Apple Store as it was actively being worked on Friday, November 18th.  There were dozens of construction workers and corporate reps putting the final touches on the future store.  In the images you can see what looks to be several large hanging boards.  The boards are hung on large hooks, which would make it easy to pull off and reveal what is behind the boards.

9to5Mac has heard that Apple will officially announce the opening of the Grand Central Apple store this Tuesday and presumably pull the black boards to reveal the announcement.  This store garners extra special attention because it will be Apple’s largest in the world by square footage and resides in a building where 750,000 people pass daily and over 1,000,000 people during the holidays.  Check out our previously posted spyshots of the location for a sneak peak of the store.

The Grand Central Apple Store will have little over 300 employees, which are currently training in other local NY Apple stores.  All Apple retail employees will be attending a holiday-focused (policies / loss prevention) meeting tonight.

From what we have now heard, Apple will be filling the store with stock and applying the finishing touches this week putting the  the actual opening of the store on Black Friday or shortly thereafter.  The goal all along has been to get the store open for the holiday shopping and to make a big splash with Apple’s new crown jewel of retail.

Wall of Monitors spied between pillars, right, Video of the store space below (more here):

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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…
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Update: Here it is! (Thanks Dapper!)

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Thanks Marty!

Apple has just started closing down its 5th Avenue Store which is usually open 24/7/365 where patrons are filing out of the GM building entrance.  It is preparing for a grand re-opening at 10am tomorrow where a newly-designed $6 million cube will be unveiled.  The number of panes in the cube will drop from 90 to just 15 (3 per side).

We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.

Apple will spend the next 12 hours getting the store ready according to the 5th Avenue Store web page.

Attention:We’ll be closed starting at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 3 and will reopen at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 4.

Apple began pulling the wraps off of the 5th Avenue Store Cube upgrade project this evening.  The above pictures shows the new seamless glass panels that will eventually look like this artist’s rendition, below:
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Update: Training for Apple Store Grand Central employees began today at a hotel in Times Square,will end Nov 11, ahead of end of Nov opening. (thanks @iDannyOcean)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBEcpw3wqA]

In August, we had the opportunity to do a thorough walkthrough of the Grand Central Apple Store space (video above) as construction was just getting kicked off. Shortly thereafter, Apple built a wall around the space so that onlookers can’t get a sneak preview of what is to come (though the renderings, below give you a pretty good idea what Apple has in mind).

Today, a tipster from the MTA has provided us with a progress report of sorts. The pictures, show below and taken yesterday, show that construction is well on its way but as we near its anticipated November launch, still show significant work is left to be done. Talking to one of the construction workers, our source said that Apple plans to have it open for Black Friday, if not sooner.

Remember, this is only one part of the huge space which is said to make it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Flagship Apple Stores in the world. Additional images below:

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While Apple’s London Covent Garden and Regent Street stores have given the company a prominent presence in the city centre, a proposed development at 100 Cheapside in London’s uber-rich financial district may be threatened by neighbours claiming rights to sunlight.

ifoAppleStore got their hands on a rendering of the proposed development which would cover 87,000 square-feet of office space, and 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. A report from Reuters notes that Apple is currently interested in moving in. Judging by the mock up above, an Apple retail space would fit nicely in that large windowed, street-level storefront.

However, it looks like if Apple is really interested in making it happen they might have to throw some of those billions to appease neighbours and get the job done. Reuters reports:
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customers and employees waiting for the Fifth Avenue Store to re-open

You might have heard there was a little trembler on the east coast earlier today.  Perhaps due to the renovation of the glass cube overhead, we’re hearing that the whole 5th Avenue Store was evacuated and both customers and employees were relocated to Central Park while the structure was checked for damages (above).

Better safe than sorry.
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We’re getting images in from around the UK of Apple Stores having removed their inventory after closing of business. The concern is the ongoing riots that have plagued London and now the greater UK for the past 3 days.

Above: Due To The Riots In England, The Apple Store In Liverpool One have moved all stock up stairs from the show floor.

Even resellers are getting into the action. Canterbury, Kent, below:

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More on the way, unfortunately.
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Macrumors notes that the boarded up Fifth Avenue Apple Store now reveals plans to improve the appearance of the cube by using “bigger, seamless” panes of glass.  The number of panes will drop from 90 to just 15 (3 per side).

We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.

The upgrade reportedly costs $6 million. We’d be very surprised if the renovation isn’t complete for the October iPhone 5 launch.

Apple is also expected to have its Grand Central location, just 15 or so blocks south, open for the holidays and is also doing an upgrade to its Soho Store.

Update: The Gothamist posts a rendering:

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Apple Upper West Side in New York – Showing the floating Apple in the glass front

Apple will open their newest Apple Store this Saturday at 10 AM in the heart of Glendale, California; a city within the Greater Los Angeles Area. The store resides approximately 500-600 feet away from the world’s first Apple Store – store R001 at the Glendale Galleria Mall. Although the store opens this Saturday, the design, feel, interior, and exterior is yet to be revealed to the public. We have spoken to a proven corporate source in Apple’s retail division that is familiar with the development of Apple’s newest retail store.

Externally, the store is slightly different than the Apple Stores we have become accustomed to. The Americana at Brand location will trade the classic silver front with glass doors for an all glass front. That’s right; all glass – Apple’s newish style. In addition, Apple’s iconic logo will float in this glass, similarly to how the Apple logo floats in the Fifth Avenue store’s famous glass cube or the Upper West Side store’s front. The inside of the store features a very open floor plan, that is fairly similar to the chain’s other locations.

At the back of the store sits a giant Genius Bar, one of Apple’s largest: fifty seats. In addition, the store has at least twelve giant tables throughout – not including side panels as showcases, that hold iPads, iPod, iPhones, Macs, and more. Like some of Apple’s more recent retail locations, this one holds a sizable briefing room; a room where employees assist business customers. In addition  – and this is more employee oriented – there is a giant back of house area for repairs, breaks, offices, and for other utilities like Apple’s 5th Avenue Store… more details including Apple Store 2.0 info after the break:

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As a Grand Central commuter into New York City, this whole Apple Store thing has been surreal.  The WSJ posts some renderings of what the store would look like and frankly, it is amazing.  The Store is so big and open that Apple will become part of Grand Central.

Think delicious free Apple Wifi for instance.

New details emerged today.  Should the Board approve Apple’s bid on Wednesday, Apple will begin construction immediately and it is estimated to only take 4 months to build out the new Store?!  So, theoretically it is open for the holidays.

Also, more information on the ouster:

Apple is paying Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant $5 million to vacate its space on the terminal’s east balcony more than eight years before its lease expires. The MTA will get significantly higher annual rent: $1.1 million from Apple vs. $263,997 from Metrazur.

In addition to the space currently occupied by Metrazur, Apple will move into an adjacent, currently vacant balcony on the northeast side of the terminal.

If that weren’t enough (and it is) the MTA announced that there was a Shake Shack going into Grand Central as well.

And if that weren’t enough, at today’s announcement the MTA piled it on the lowly Penn Station commuters like Dr. Macenstein:
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In February, the New York Observer ran a story saying that Apple was eyeing a Grand Central Station New York Apple Store, which would be the borough’s 5th.

Reliable sources tell The Observer that the maker of ubiquitous iGadgets—from computers to cell phones—hopes to open a store in the transportation and retail hub, though it has yet to begin the long approval process necessary for opening in a city landmark.

Within days, other sites ran with that info, “confirmed” that a deal had been reached for “Apple’s largest retail space in the world”, saying an announcement was forthcoming and the store would open this Fall.

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Good ol’ AT&T has got their PR machine in high gear today.  CEO Randall Stephenson told Businessweek that the T-Mobile deal would instantly bring more bandwidth to users in constrained cities:

“This transaction is very instrumental” in improving network service, said Stephenson at the event. “Virtually on the day you close the deal, getting a 30 percent lift in capacity in New York City: that’s a significant improvement in call quality and data throughput.”

Other things that would have helped: Adding capacity at the same rate you were adding customers.

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Wow.  New York.  And I am in SF.  We had a hunch.

Also the unverified source that gave us that earlier info also told us:

VZiPhone: Release window: Feb 9-16.  The vacation blackout :Feb 1-16 give or take.

iPad2 will be announced on the 1st week of March, released within 30 days.

Update: The Wall Street Journal says it’s the Verizon iPhone.

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