One of the world's largest companies by market share is planning to open its largest retail store on the West Coast this Saturday on the Third Street Promenade.
Apple Inc., the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant that created the iPod, iPhone and the line of Mac personal computers, is expecting a large crowd to gather at its new store, located at 1415 Third St.
The all-glass building with a curved ceiling and roughly 8,000 square-feet of retail space will feature double the number of stations where people can test-drive products like the new iPhone 5. It will also have three times as many Genius Bar seats so that customers can get IT help, a spokesperson for the company said. The Genius Bar comes with a 360-degree layout, the first of its kind in Southern California.
Apple is closing down its other promenade location and moving the 200 employees a few blocks south. Apple has called the promenade home for the last nine years.
The first 1,500 customers to line up on Saturday will get a free T-shirt, the spokesperson said.
The property where the new Apple store is located sold in July for nearly $60 million, according to Bloomberg News. The property was purchased by Nakash Holdings, the investment company of denim moguls Avi, Ralph and Joseph Nakash of Jordache Enterprises fame. The property was previously home to a Borders book store.
