Apple in Australia, UK

Apple is continuing to aggressively expand its retail presence outside of the US, following what company execs call an "outstanding quarter" in which sales increased 33 percent from the previous year. The Register reports that the company has has begun recruiting staff to run its first Australian Apple Store, which was officially announced for earlier this year after reports surfaced in early February. The company is also looking to hire for new several new stores in the UK, including Exeter, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Reading and Brighton. It already has nine stores throughout the UK.

According to the report, the company's website currently lists a range of key posts for the Sydney store, including Store Manager, Assistant Store Manager, Inventory Controllers and Cashiers. The company is also recruiting Mac Geniuses for its immensely popular (free) tech support area for Mac, iPhone, and iPod users.

While Apple Australia has confirmed only that it's planning to open a store in Sydney, reports suggest that Apple has leased space in a "multi-level retail center being developed at a former Westpac site on the corner of George and King streets."

Apple in July announced that it has remodeled 13 stores and opened 18 new stores in the second calendar quarter, ending with 185 retail outlets. The company also announced plans to open 12 stores in the September quarter, to end with 197.

The report says that Apple UK is "currently recruiting staff for new stores in Milton Keynes Central shopping mall; Solihull; Exeter's soon-to-be-completed Princesshay centre; Brighton's Church Hill Square; Reading's The Oracle site; Glasgow's Buchanan Street; and Essex's Lakeside shopping centre."

by MacNN Staff