Apple announces store closures amid coronavirus case spikes in US states
Apple had planned to reopen about 100 US stores, mostly with curbside pickup but some with walk-in service, in late May as lockdown restrictions began to ease.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFApple watches are displayed following an Apple event in San Francisco, California March 9, 2015. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Apple will once again be closing down several of it retail locations around Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and South Carolina, as coronavirus cases have spiked in those states in recent weeks.Eleven stores in total will be affected by the closures. Company shares dropped 0.5% in the wake of the news.Apple had planned to reopen about 100 US stores, mostly with curbside pickup but some with walk-in service, in late May as lockdown restrictions began to ease.However, cases in the United States have been steadily rising, with over 2.2 million people infected and at least 118,396 people dead.In a letter to Apple customers in May, Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's retail chief, had said the company would look at data on a local basis and that re-closings were a possibility based on that data."These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won't take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant," O'Brien had said.“Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesman told Bloomberg News. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”Reuters contributed to this report.
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