El Paso Apple Store to fill US, Mexican retail gaps
updated 11:45 am EDT, Wed June 22, 2011
Reading, UK Apple Store opens on Saturday
Apple is planning to open a new store in El Paso, Texas, city building permits show. The outlet will be based on the ground floor of the Cielo Vista Mall, which is found alongside Interstate 10 on the east side of the city. It will specifically be located next to a Gap clothing store, and the permits give an estimated construction cost of $500,000. It could open in early 2012 based on construction schedules.
An El Paso store will help to fill in a major void in Apple's US retail coverage. An area spread throughout several states is served by only one outlet, the ABQ Uptown location in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The El Paso shop will also do double-duty for Mexico, since it will be situated just three miles from the border town of Ciudad Juarez; Apple has yet to build any stores inside the country.
In the meantime Apple is launching a new UK outlet in the city of Reading. Doors open at 9:30AM on Saturday; the project has had an unusually troubled history, since job listings first manifested in 2007, but then vanished again weeks later. Earnest hiring and construction efforts began in January this year.
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Security - Yikes
Apple better have armed Guards 24 x 7 at this store. Whether there is an outfacing entrance or not they better have cement pillars to block cars and trucks slamming through the walls.