First Apple Store in the Middle East to open in Dubai next year - report
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.
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.
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.
Good ole Apple always outdoing themselves. This is going to be mentioned in one of their upcoming keynotes. I remember when they showed off their first china store. It was a wow moment.
*agree
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.
I found a Facebook group calling for Steve Job's to be killed because of the NY Cube design back in the day. Insane. No patent, tough shit.
I think the greater moron is the one who would believe anything in that zdnet story. Not a single source is referenced. I'm not surprised you remembered it and dug it up though, to keep spreading your usual poison, fear and ignorance.
Another brilliant, well-sourced report from the front lines. You and Apple ][ should hook up and go out together.
I find it distressing that Apple would kowtow to the terrorist cesspool that is the Middle East and build a store anywhere in that region. This place has been extremely hostile to the West for decades if not centuries and Apple should not taint their products by selling to these clowns unless they clean up their act.
I think the greater moron is the one who would believe anything in that zdnet story. Not a single source is referenced. I'm not surprised you remembered it and dug it up though, to keep spreading your usual poison, fear and ignorance.
I didn't read the story Apple][ linked to, but I can be pretty sure there was truth in it because I personally read pages upon pages of vile religious chatter calling for SJ's death due to the cube design.
Another brilliant, well-sourced report from the front lines. You and Apple ][ should hook up and go out together.
Jog on.
I found a Facebook group calling for Steve Job's to be killed because of the NY Cube design back in the day.
You've got to be kidding me. Seriously.
It's a wonder there was no fatwah against that other cubist, Ern?....
(Aargh.... what's up with the damn formatting on AI....)
I can read pages and pages of skinhead ravings from England, and I won't make a single generalization about the sanity or humanity of the English people based on those ravings.
It's a fallacy to extrapolate from the lunatic fringe. Especially when the most extreme ravings can be from agents provocateurs who are serving hidden agendas. We saw a lot of that in the 60s in the US. Black Power and New Left agitators turned out to be government agents and so on.
Not sound business to alienate an entire group of people just because of a few misguided individuals.
Edit: plus you're forgetting that terrorists use Android
Obviously, You've never been to Dubai. Awesome place. Been in and out for more than a Decade. Population not huge, but well heeled and tech savvy. Who cares what the offensive 0.0001 percent think, this is a developed country crying for the resources a Genuine Apple retail store brings.
The same could go for Doha, Qatar. Definitely enough sophisticated customers domestic, and the Ex-pat community that well outnumbers the citizens. A further long list of significant markets unserved would be, Singapore, Bangkok, and Kuala-Lumpur. And, as long as I'm on a rant, the unqualified statements about China, where I've spent most of the last 15 years, are way off-base. They now have a middle class that is larger than the US population, and even those who are not part of, WILL spend what it takes, even 2-3 months wages, to own Genuine Apple products. The China Telecom deal was HUGE. I will be purchasing an iPhone 6 in China, thru China telecom, and the legions will be many.
Well written post with good points, but I've never seen legions that weren't many.
I think the greater moron is the one who would believe anything in that zdnet story. Not a single source is referenced. I'm not surprised you remembered it and dug it up though, to keep spreading your usual poison, fear and ignorance.
I linked to an Apple related news story from many years ago that appears on many different sites, as it was directly related to a comment made in this thread. And yes, I obviously remembered the story from back then, I have a good memory. You are free to Google such information yourself.
I see that you have a problem with people stating history and things that have happened in the past. Would you like to rewrite history?
I didn't read the story Apple][ linked to, but I can be pretty sure there was truth in it because I personally read pages upon pages of vile religious chatter calling for SJ's death due to the cube design.
You're just being poisonous for daring to simply point out any facts. You're the bad one, not the wackjobs who were calling for Steve Job's death.
Let's pretend that it never happened, and let's attack anybody who points out facts in this thread, because I love to make excuses for these murderous savages.