AppleInsider Staff
Apple looks set to launch its first official retail presence in the Middle East with a new store in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates, according to a new report, with the location said to be the largest the Cupertino company has ever built.
The Mall of the Emirates is a 2.4-million square foot establishment that is home to over 700 retail stores as well as Dubai's famous indoor ski resort. Apple is planning to take over a space currently belonging to a movie theater, notes EDGARdaily, which bills itself as a publication that provides "discernible gentlemen in the Middle East everything there is to know, to buy, to do, to see and to go."
Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. He first met with UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Abu Dhabi, before speaking with UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi in Dubai.
Cook later visited a number of Apple resellers in the emirates.
Apple opened an online store in the UAE in 2011, but still lacks a first-party retail presence. The company is in the midst of a massive retail expansion under new stores czar Angela Ahrendts, and recently reached an accord with Saudi Arabian retailer Jarir Bookstore to expand sales in that country.
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41 Comments
Why does this matter anymore? It's another freaking Apple store. Big deal.
1. Apple news website.
2. “...said to be the largest the Cupertino company has ever built.”
I don't think the cube design would have gone down too well there (makkah).
Why does this matter anymore? It's another freaking Apple store. Big deal.
Even though I'm not that crazy about the country that they're building it in, this is definitely Apple news.
Anytime that Apple opens their first store in a brand new country, that definitely qualifies as Apple news. Next time you see an article about an Apple store, just don't click on it. Problem solved.
I don't think the cube design would have gone down too well there (makkah).
The Apple flagship Cube store on 5th Ave in New York was found offensive by a few Islamic nutjobs a while back. I remember that story, and I just dug it up.
The reason? Because the building resembles the Ka'ba in Mecca (pictured below), is called "Apple Mecca," (by whom?), is open 24 hours a day like the Ka'ba, and "contains bars selling alcoholic beverages."
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/report-islamic-site-finds-apple-store-offensive/305
Do they sell alcohol? I don't recall ever seeing that. Those ignoramuses must think that the genius bar is an actual bar! Talk about stupid! And who calls it the Apple Mecca? Those morons are woefully misinformed and dumb.