Japan Is Getting a New Apple Store
Apple currently operates seven retail stores in Japan. Soon it will open an eighth.
People familiar with Apple’s retail plans tell AllThingsD that the company does indeed intend to open a new store in Tokyo’s Omotesando shopping district early next year, as first reported by Bloomberg.
Construction on the 20,000-square-foot store — Apple’s first new store in Tokyo since 2005 — is expected to begin in earnest shortly and wrap up in February. Currently, the store’s doors-open date is set for March, though sources said that could change.
For Apple, which has found great success in the Japanese market, opening a new store in Omotesando, a showcase for flagship stores from all manner of luxury brands, is a no-brainer. As CFO Peter Oppenheimer noted on the company’s last earnings call, iPhone sales in Japan during the third quarter grew 66 percent year over year, making the device the top-selling smartphone in the country, according to IDC.