Entrance to Apple's Shanghai StoreWith no official launch announcement yet, fevered reports are popping up across the Applesphere with new photos of the “cloaked in red, and guarded by ninjas” cylindrical glass tower entrance to Apple’s new underground retail megastore in Shanghai. Set to open mid-July, the red curtains are an auspicious signal to the large Apple lovin’ community in the city (and over here in Suzhou too).
The store will join Beijing’s Sanlitun Lu shop [image], which opened back around this time of year in 2008 … hmmm… Summer 2008/Beijing Olympics, Summer 2010/Shanghai Expo… maybe Guangzhou can expect their own shop sometime in November?
AppleInsider: “The new real property is one of the two new stores opening in Shanghai this summer and counts among the 25 new Apple Stores that the company’s chief operations executive Tim Cook said would open in China by the end of 2011.
Apple Shanghai Store entranceThe new store’s design is reminiscent of Apple’s iconic flagship New York City store on Fifth Avenue [image], which is similarly located entirely underground and features a dramatic giant glass cube entrance.
The new Shanghai store has an equally prominent location at the foot of the International Finance Center (and is part of the surrounding IFC Mall next to retail boutiques including Armani, Cartier, Chanel, Ferragamo, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Vuitton, and Tiffany), and lies in the shadow of Shanghai’s signature Oriental Pearl TV Tower landmark.”
ifoAppleStore.com: “The glass cylinder entrance to the future IFC Mall (Shanghai) retail store has transformed once again, this time wrapped in plastic with a dramtic red velvet curtain design, identical to the future Opera (Paris) store. The huge glass entrance leads to a spiral glass staircase inside, which descends into the underground retail space. There is on-going construction on the plaza that surrounds the entrance, and final work continues on the inside of the underground store. The outdoor work appears to indicate a shallow water pond or fountain surrounding the glass entrance. The location of the new store was revealed last week by MacGeneration, set between the two skyscrapers of the International Finance Center in the city’s financial district. The store is scheduled to open during mid-July.”
Be sure to click any one of the images above (or the [image] links) to see larger images all the stores mentioned. Also, check out this Flickr photostream for a bunch more photos of the Shanghai store entrance.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing the links Lawrence. Bummed that there’s no iPad or iPhone4… am curious to hear about the pricing though. I bought a 15″ MacBook last year with an education discount, but in RMB and a friend paid not much more for a 17″ MacBook Pro in Canada. Painful.
Founded in 2006, Lost Laowai has been made for and is maintained by China expatriates with a deep interest in China. Sometimes we love it, sometimes we hate it -- but never does this country fail to captivate us.
that has to be one of the most awkward, but coolest things I’ve seen
Hey Ryan,
I was over there for the opening.
Photos and comments below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheedl/sets/72157624448891934/
My Thoughts here
http://www.computersolutions.cn/blog/2010/07/apple-store-opening-in-shanghai/
http://www.badappleservice.cn/2010/07/08/apple-store-pudong-pre-opening-8th-july-2010/
Very cool! Thanks for sharing the links Lawrence. Bummed that there’s no iPad or iPhone4… am curious to hear about the pricing though. I bought a 15″ MacBook last year with an education discount, but in RMB and a friend paid not much more for a 17″ MacBook Pro in Canada. Painful.