Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail
First Apple Store set to open in Philadelphia
Last night Philadelphia's baseball fans had something to cheer about, and soon her Apple fans will, too. After years of waiting, an Apple Store is finally set to open within the city itself at 1607 Walnut Street.Probably.
It's not set in stone yet, as the proposed design is yet to go before the city's Art Commission. Let's hope Apple has a better time of it than they did in Boston, where Boston's Back Bay Architectural Commission had trouble approving the Boylston Street store's design.
By contrast, The Art Commission's executive director, William Burke, seems enthused, telling Metro, "...[Apple is] going to clean all that off and purify the design. It's a nice building that contributes to the character of the street."
The store currently closest to Philly is the Ardmore Apple Store. Other than that, you've got to go out to Jersey.
[Via MacNN]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
blachole said 2:37PM on 11-03-2009
The closest from Ardmore is probably the one in the King of Prussia mall..not NJ..
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Cody Cowper said 2:45PM on 11-03-2009
I have always only had to wait one year for a new phone. So I am really confused by all this complaining.
Cody Cowper said 2:46PM on 11-03-2009
Cherry Hill Mall is the closest apple store to center city.
blachole said 3:19PM on 11-03-2009
I don't like traveling out to Cherry Hill, but I am also located outside of Philly, so KOP is easier for me, plus its nicer.
Jake.VO said 2:44PM on 11-03-2009
Although I really enjoy using SpringBoard Media for most of my mac needs, they don't have the insider advantage that the Apple Store does in terms of product availability.
This downtown store will relieve the issue of having to drive up to King of Prussia on I-76 or going out of the way to Ardmore and anything is better than going to the miserable Cherry Hill store.
Really, the more choices the better.
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Chad said 2:46PM on 11-03-2009
The closest one is in King of Prussia mall not ardmore pa
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Bergamot said 2:51PM on 11-03-2009
This is clearly a ripoff of the new Microsoft Stores
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Joanna D said 2:52PM on 11-03-2009
Isn't there an Apple Store in the Steamtown Mall that they always talk about on The Office?
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mikeike310 said 3:36PM on 11-03-2009
The closest apple store to Scranton is about an hour away. A lot of the places they mention in the show don't have locations near Scranton (like Chilli's and Banana Republic.)
Kane said 2:53PM on 11-03-2009
I wouldn't be so optimistic about this news...MacNN is sourcing the newspaper "Metro" for this news. For those not in the area, "Metro" is the free "throw-away" news paper that you get at Septa train stations, and they're not even close to being a legitimate news source. If the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Courier Times wrote about this, then I would feel more optimistic.
Hopefully though this does happen b/c Philly desperately needs an Apple Store.
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blachole said 3:21PM on 11-03-2009
This store has been in talks for ages though, so it might be legit. I thought that they had already gotten approval to build in like Market/Chinatown district and were already building it, but I guess not.
rg said 3:36PM on 11-03-2009
Maybe that title should read "First Apple Store In Philadelphia Set To Open" since there are already quite a few Apple stores open around the world!
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Enrique said 3:46PM on 11-03-2009
FINALLY!!
Not having an Apple Store in this city is ridiculous. So many white-budded headphones walking around it would only make sense to have an actual store here. Let's hope it actually happens!!
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ph@nt0m said 4:19PM on 11-03-2009
Apple's been hiring for this store for only a week or two on their internal job page... but planing for it began five years ago.
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walkerjs said 5:24PM on 11-03-2009
Yeah, KoP is probably Philly's best bet for closeness, though I think the Ardmore one is accessible via the R5 Downingtown train.
Not that I care anymore since I just recently moved out of the Philly area down to New Orleans, so my closest Apple store is now only about 2 miles from my house in Metairie. I did, however buy all my Macs and accessories from the KoP while I was there. Got my Magic Mouse here.
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Dave Da King said 9:04PM on 11-03-2009
I've been waiting for this for so long. I live on south street and there is no apple store that is close except for the cherry hill store. This will help me so much now I don't have to catch a 30 minute bus ride. Jizzed in my pants!!!!!!!!!!
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nickux said 9:07PM on 11-03-2009
So happy this finally happened! I live up near the Art Museum in Philadelphia. Already applied on the Apple careers site. Wouldn't mind getting a job there. Here's to hoping I hear from them!
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Damien K. said 12:09PM on 11-04-2009
KILLADELPHIA
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David said 1:12AM on 11-06-2009
Sadly, if it's in Philadelphia, the store culture won't transcend the Philly retail mentality of "lazy and rude". To wit, our Wal-Mart is THE WORST Wal-Mart in the world. Go to a real Wal-Mart, and it's like night-and-day (in terms of organization, neatness, friendliness of staff, etc..., etc...). Philly is a tough nut for any retail culture to overcome. I'm sure this Apple store will also be among the worst examples, and it hasn't even opened yet. No wonder it's taken this long.
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