Apple eyeing ‘Express’ store format to help deal with iPhone 12 demand

Apple is expanding a new physical store format — the “Express” — as it prepares for high iPhone 12 demand, Deirdre O’Brien, senior vice president of retail and people at Apple, tells Reuters.

The Express stores — which come as COVID-19 rates are rising around the U.S. and Europe. — has a wall built in front of the main store with sales counters protected by plexiglass and a few shelves of accessories such as phone cases and AirPods. Customers make an appointment to pick up orders placed online or interact with Apple’s technicians for customer service.

The Express stores give Apple another option in areas where shopping is hampered by COVID-19 rates. However, the option doesn’t work as smoothly for Apple stores in shopping malls or busy downtown shopping districts where the “curb” may be far away from the storefront, said O’Brien told Reuters.

(Dennis Sellers has been covering the Apple industry since 1996. In addition to“Apple World Today,” he also runs his own freelance writing/editing service. If you want more info about the latter, email him at dennis.sellers@comcast.net.)