Apple Store coming to Amsterdam [VIDEO]

9to5 Staff | Feb 14 2012 - 5:40 am PT

[slideshow]

Here is one more reason to visit Amsterdam—the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands: Apple is busy putting the finishing touches on a new retail store. According to Dutch-language website iPhoneclub.nl, the rumored Leidseplein store is now a reality as the company raised huge orange storefront stickers adorned with three Apple logos – a subtle hint at the three crosses on top of each other from the Coat of Arms of Amsterdam. The customary stickers read:

Apple Store, Amsterdam. Opening soon.

While employees speculate the store could open this coming Saturday, Feb. 18, that may not be feasible due to scaffoldings and plastic sheets inside (additional snaps at the source link). Moreover, a recent job ad in the Metro newspaper indicates Apple has only recently begun hiring store staff, so Feb. 18 could be the date when employee training starts (as the website noted itself, employees have a mandatory day off on Saturday)…

According to floor plans obtained by IfoAppleStore, Apple is looking to open the store on the ground floor and mezzanine of the 1909-era Hirsch Building at Leidseplein 25. As we reported in November 2011, Apple has gone to great lengths to preserve the historic building that appears well connected with the city’s tramline and a plaza sitting right in front of it. The building already accommodates the company’s headquarters for the Benelux region on the third floor. Noting that the Hirsch building originally belonged to an international fashion house, ifoAppleStore explained last year:

It sits at a prominent and very visible corner, overlooking a huge intersection where the city’s tram line passes by. The building is topped with a 124-foot copper dome that made it the tallest retail building in The Netherlands at the time. Inside, a huge atrium and other architectural details give the building a spectacular appearance. According to lease documents, office space on the upper floors is offered starting at about $47 per square-foot annually. Presumably ground-floor retail space would be more expensive.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_GjA9JyUCI]