Temporary location to handle traffic

Apple's SoHo store in New York City should close sometime during the next three months to accommodate planned renovations, a report says. The company will be taking over ground floor space behind its current SoHo property; the space was once operated by the US Postal Service, but was emptied in 2009. Building permits are said to show that the existing first floor of the SoHo store will be undergoing changes of its own, although Apple's first-ever glass staircase will remain.

For the public some important ambiguities remain. Apple has not, for instance, said when the store will reopen. A temporary store will go up to prevent lost sales, but the planned site has not been identified beyond the Manhattan area.

The SoHo store is currently Apple's smallest in Manhattan and sees heavy traffic. It is moreover one of the company's oldest outlets, dating back to July 2002. It has since been eclipsed in New York City by the likes of the Fifth Avenue location.

by MacNN Staff