Apple is planning to close nearly a dozen retail stores located in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
“Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesman said Friday in a statement after being contacted by Bloomberg News. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.” Apple shared.
As states re-open after the flattening the curve efforts and George Floyd’s death sparked massive rallies and protests, COVID cases have soared in many densely populated areas.
Apple had reopened the majority of its U.S. locations, including many stores in major markets like New York City and Los Angeles.
The stores being closed are Waterside Shops and Coconut Point in Florida, Southpark and Northlake Mall in North Carolina, Haywood Mall in South Carolina, and Chandler Fashion Center, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Arrowhead, SanTan Village, Scottsdale Quarter and La Encantada in Arizona.
Apple said customers will be able to pick up device repairs at the stores over the weekend. Employees of the closed stores will continue be paid, the company said. Apple didn’t provide a timeline for reopening.
Our approach to reopening our stores
First, let’s remember how we got here. In China, and later around the world, we were one of the first companies to close our stores. In Greater China, we saw the importance of swift action — and the critical importance of social distance — to slow the virus’ spread. And, as time has gone on, we’ve continued to refine and expand our in‑store health and safety measures, which have proven so effective in places like Greater China, where our stores have been safely open for months.
Our commitment is to only move forward with a reopening once we’re confident we can safely return to serving customers from our stores. We look at every available piece of data — including local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials. These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won’t take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant.
When a store in your area does take this step to reopen — which you can check up on using the Find a Store search tool — you’ll find the same helpful, dedicated teams that were there before we closed, but things may look and feel a little different. For one thing, you’ll find yourself with plenty of space.
In every store, we’re focused on limiting occupancy and giving everybody lots of room, and renewing our focus on one‑on‑one, personalized service at the Genius Bar and throughout the store.
We’re also taking some additional steps in most places. Face coverings will be required for all of our teams and customers, and we will provide them to customers who don’t bring their own. Temperature checks will be conducted at the door, and posted health questions will screen for those with symptoms — like cough or fever — or who have had recent exposure to someone infected with COVID‑19. Throughout the day, we’re conducting enhanced deep cleanings that place special emphasis on all surfaces, display products, and highly trafficked areas.
We’ve also taken this time to consider how we can serve our customers’ needs even more effectively, whether online or in our stores. For many stores, that will mean curb‑side pick‑up and drop off. If you choose to buy online, we can ship to your home or make your new items available for convenient pick‑up at our stores. And you can continue to find the same excellent standard of customer service and support online and over the phone to help you with any questions you might have.
