Apple is reopening its stores. Here's what you need to know.
After two months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple is reopening its retail stores around the world.
In a note posted on Apple's website on Sunday, Apple’s senior VP of Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien said that nearly a hundred Apple stores have been re-opened already. She also detailed some of the steps the company has undertaken to make the shopping experience at Apple's retail stores safe.
First, Apple is limiting occupancy in each of its stores, and re-focusing on one-on-one service. O'Brien shared no further details on this besides saying that the stores will now have "plenty of space."
In "most" stores Apple will also require face coverings, both for its teams and customers. If a customer doesn't have a face mask, Apple will provide it for them.
The company will also conduct temperature checks at the door, as well as asking a few health-related questions to determine whether you're potentially infected with COVID-19, or have been in contact with someone who has been.
Stores will be thoroughly cleaned throughout the day, with "enhanced deep cleanings that place special emphasis on all surfaces, display products, and highly trafficked areas."
Finally, the company will implement curb-side pick-up and drop-off in "many stores."
According to O'Brien, Apple will continue to analyze COVID-19-related data to make decisions in the future, including monitoring "local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials." And, should the need arise, a store that has re-opened can be closed again.
"A store opening in no way means that we won't take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant," wrote O'Brien.
Apple has more than 500 stores around the world, meaning that most of them are still closed. The company recently said it plans to re-open "many more" stores in May.
To find out whether a store is open, you can use Apple's Find a Store page. Unfortunately, you'll have to click on each store's name to get that info; the stores which are open will have a "we are open again" note on the top of the page.
Topics Apple
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
