What you need to know
- The first Apple store outside of Greater China is reopening.
- Apple Garosu-gil in Seoul, Korea, will reopen on Saturday, April 18.
- The store will operate limited hours, Genius Bar appointments and pickups.
Apple is reopening its first store outside of Greater China in Seoul, South Korea this Saturday, April 18.
As 9to5Mac reports:
Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of Greater China on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. After more than a month of closures, Apple's only store in South Korea is scheduled to reopen to customers at reduced capacity on April 18... When Seoul's Apple Garosugil reopens on April 18, the store will host Genius Bar appointments and order pickups, encouraging customers to continue shopping online. Store hours have been temporarily reduced from 12:00 – 8:00 P.M.
This will be the first time an Apple store outside of China has opened since March 13, when Apple was forced to close its entire retail operation beyond China in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As the report notes, Apple's retail teams continue to receive pay and are partaking in frequent company updates. Some have also been given the option to work from home within services like AppleCare.
The news is mostly a testament to South Korea's response to the pandemic. The country was even able to hold an election this week, albeit with masks, distancing measures and more in place. According to the latest reports, South Korea's infection peaked in February, when around 900 people a day were being reported as infected. That number is now less than 50. Its success has largely been attributed to an aggressive program of testing and tracing infected patients.
