What you need to know
- Apple has continued to close stores across the U.S. following a rise in COVID cases.
- The most recent closures affect New York City.
Apple has continued its spate of U.S. store closures following a rise in cases of COVID-19. Now, and as Bloomberg reports, Apple is now closing 16 stores in New York alone, including essential locations such as the Fifth Ave. store, Grand Central Station, and the World Trade Center. Retail stores in Staton Island and the Bronx have also been affected.
Unlike previous closures, however, Apple is going about the situation in New York in a different way. From Bloomberg:
Apple has temporarily closed many stores in recent weeks as it copes with the highly contagious omicron variant, but it's trying a different approach with the New York shutdown. The company is still letting customers place orders online and pick them up at the stores. Shoppers won't be able to enter the store to browse or purchase anything onsite, and technical support from the Genius Bar won't be available.
Apple did something similar with its other recent store closings. Instead of curbside pickup, however, stores around the country offered free two-hour delivery on select products.
This all follows a spike in COVID cases in New York as the Omicron variant of the virus continues its spread. Apple has not yet given a date for the reopening of any of its locations but has continued to say that it monitors conditions in each locality with stores affected by these closures.
The company previously closed over 20 retail locations around the country in states including Texas, Ohio, and Florida.
