The Wangfujing Apple Store, the third one
located in the Chinese city of Beijing,
opened Saturday to long lines of residents
and tourists who braved the bitter cold to
make sure that they would get inside the
store. The three story building includes
Asia's first all glass stair case and the
location is Apple's largest on the
continent. The Wangfujing Apple Store is
located in a historic district in a newly
renovated shopping mall and inside there
are 300 employees and two 360 degree
Genius Bars. A huge LED display blinks
messages.
Apple Senior VP of Retail, John Brewett,
took a preview tour of the store on
Thursday, telling reporters that yet
another Apple Store will open in
Shenzhen, soon. Currently, the country
supports six Apple Stores with
employment of 800 people. The two
other stores in Beijing are in the Salitun
area, and in the Xidan district. The new
store is close to both locations.
The Salitun store is where a near riot
broke out this past January when Apple
was about to offer the Apple iPhone 4S in
the store. A delay in the store's opening
was announced and those who had
waited in line started throwing eggs and
rocks at the police. It would have been
the first time that Apple's iconic
smartphone could have been purchased
at an official Apple Store in the country.
Instead, following the incident, Apple
limited sales of the Apple iPhone 4S in
China to those made online or at the
retail locations of China Unicom.
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