macnn
07/03/2008, 3:30pm, EDT
Thursday, July 3rd
Early photos of Beijing Apple Store emerge
Some of the first photos of the Beijing Apple Store have made their way online, according to a French site. MacPlus says it has obtained a number of photos of the location, which is on Sanlitun street within the Chaoyang district; the site specifically notes that the store is inside a commercial complex called The Village, also home to companies like Nike and Zara. The district as a whole is being revamped to present an appealing image to foreigners visiting during the Olympics.
Although set to open on July 19th, the Sanlitun store is still in comparatively rough shape, with tables out of place, most surfaces undecorated, and construction equipment littering much of the area. Builders have, however, finished the staircase connecting the main floors, one designed after those in some of Apple's other flagship locations.
Filed under: Apple
Other story tags: retail, China, Beijing, Sanlitun
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Sooo...
...human rights groups are protesting the Olympics. How long before they protest Apple opening a store in China (forget that the products are already made there)?
This just in: Greenpeace stays silent for once. lol!
Chinese workers are
very efficient. They'll have the Apple store in tip-top shape in no time even if they have to work around the clock.
Let's see how the media is going to put a negative slant on the Apple store in Beijing. Underpaid workers or overpriced products? Anything to bring Apple down.
. . . you are Number 6
"he store is inside a commercial complex called The Village"
I am not a number I am a free man!
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaa haaa!
This is Apple's P.R. problem: supporting a nefarious, Illuminati-like organization bent on world domination.
not Pyonyang
Like it or not Beijing and Shanghai and most other Chinese cities are not podunk. Almost every major international brand has a presence in these cities (it isn't like an Apple store being built in North Korea), so it would be a bit ridiculous to protest Apple's presence without saying the same about practically every other multinational in America and Europe (um, KFC anyone? They are everywhere over here).
Like it or not, the tiger is out of Pandora's Box, economic boycotts of China aren't going to work. I think we need to find other ways to negotiate our grievances with China (which has been made a whole lot more difficult due to things like Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo--we've sort of slipped off the moral high ground lately).
re: Constable Odo
Are you kidding that is all they do here in construction: work around the clock. I remember trying to sleep in a hotel in Zhangye, Gansu and having to listen to a group of guys buzzsawing lumber at 2:30 a.m. I wonder what kind of pay they get for that kind of "efficiency" though. Most of the workers I have seen working construction seem to be migrants from the countryside. They probably get a pittance. That said it is probably more than they make in the countryside. And don't even think about worker safety.