14 DAY TRIAL // October 26 is the date when Leopard will finally ship and arguably this is the biggest Apple related event to take place on that date. However, next Friday also marks another significant moment in time for Apple's retail efforts.
After recently reaching a landmark number of customers in its UK, Regent Street store, Apple's retail chain will soon be crossing yet another milestone, the opening of two hundred stores. The landmark store will be opened at the SanTan Village shopping center in Gilbert, Arizona, on October 26th, the same day as the Leopard launch. Considering the overlap of the two events it is not entirely out of the question for Apple to have some special surprises in store for visitors, beyond the usual events that take place at the opening of any new store.
Come next Friday, it will be 2,251 days since Apple opened its very first store at the Tysons Corner shopping center in Virginia. Since then the company has opened a store every 11.7 days on average and revenue from them reached $100 million after just 16 months and $500 million just over two years later. Apple's retail chain reached $1 billion in sales in just over four years, an industry record for reaching this landmark. Today Apple is constantly expanding its own retail stores and opening 'stores within stores' through partnerships with other retailers, in order to reach more people worldwide.
At the beginning of next week, Apple is scheduled to hold a conference to announce the results of the financial fourth quarter, during which the company will be talking about its plans for Apple Stores in 2008. The company is expected to step up their expansion outside the U.S. and open more stores in countries that have so far gone without one.