The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc., dealing in computers and consumer electronics. As of December 2009, Apple has opened 283 stores; 221 in 41 US states, 25 in the United Kingdom (21 in England, two in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and one in Wales), 14 in Canada, 7 in Japan, 6 in Australia, 3 in Switzerland, 2 in Germany, Italy and France, and 1 in China.
The stores, designed by San Francisco based design firm Eight Inc., sell Apple Macintosh personal computers and software, iPods, iPhones, third-party accessories, and other consumer electronics such as the Apple TV. Many stores feature a theatre for presentations and workshops, the Studio for training with Apple products, and all stores offer a Genius Bar for technical support and repairs, as well as free workshops available to the public.
On May 15, 2001 Steve Jobs led a group of journalists from a hotel in Tysons Corner, Virginia to Apple's first store in the second level of Tysons Corner Center for a commemorative press event. The first two Apple Stores opened on May 19 in Tysons Corner and later the same day in Glendale, California at Glendale Galleria. The first Apple Store with the current layout and hardware (wood tables and stone flooring) opened in Pasadena, California. Apple opened its 200th store on October 26, 2007 in Gilbert, Arizona, 2,251 days after opening its Tysons Corner store. Many stores are located inside shopping malls, but Apple has since built ...
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