Tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to reopen 25 more stores in the United States after initially opening five stores as a test. Apple will now have 100 stores open worldwide, after closing all Apple stores outside of China in response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
Reuters reports that Silicon Valley tech giant Apple plans to reopen more than 25 of its stores across the United States, continuing a gradual reopening process that has seen almost one-fifth of its worldwide stores back in business.
In March, Apple closed all of its stores outside of Greater China in response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. The firm also shut down 50 stores in the Greater China area in January but had reopened them by March.
Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s head of retail, wrote in a post on the company’s website on Sunday: “Our commitment is to reopen our stores when we are confident the environment is safe.”
Apple’s stores will be imposing social-distancing rules, will limit the number of people allowed in stores, and some outlets will only offer curbside or storefront service.
Apple has not disclosed its retail store revenue but direct sales including retail stores, web, and corporate sales accounted for 31 percent of its $260 billion in revenue in 2019.
Apple CEO Tim Cook declined last month to provide an outlook for the June quarter, citing business uncertainty created by the Wuhan coronavirus. First-quarter sales figures from China were $9.46 billion, down by about $1 billion from the same period a year earlier.
Apple re-opened five stores in the U.S. last week, customers were required to undergo temperature checks and wear masks before entering the premises. The firm also plans to re-open ten of its store in Italy beginning on Tuesday.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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