What you need to know
- Apple Stores in the US will begin to reopen next week.
- Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska will be first.
- Temperature checks, social distancing, and face coverings will be required.
Apple's retail stores have been closed in the United States since March, but the company is about to begin reopening a small number of stores starting next week.
Reported by 9to5Mac, the first stores to reopen will be in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska.
"Apple will focus its initial reopening efforts on regions less impacted by infection. The first Apple Stores in the U.S. to begin welcoming customers again are located in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska. Apple operates six stores across the four states."
In order to ensure the safety of employees and customers, Apple Stores will have many new policies in place such as temperature checks, social distancing, and face coverings.
"We're excited to begin reopening stores in the US next week, starting with some stores in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska. Our team is constantly monitoring local health data and government guidance, and as soon as we can safely open our stores, we will.We've missed our customers and look forward to offering our support. With many working and learning from home, our primary focus will be providing service and support at the Genius Bar. We'll open initially with additional safety procedures including temperature checks, social distancing, and face coverings to ensure customers and employees continue to stay healthy. Our new social distance protocol allows for a limited number of visitors in the store at one time so there may be a delay for walk-in customers. We recommend, where possible, customers buy online for contactless delivery or in-store pickup.As local guidance varies around the US there may be slight modifications to our procedures. As always, our thoughts are with everyone affected by COVID-19 and those working around the clock to treat, study and contain its spread."
If you can get away with shopping online and do not need to visit a physical store, Apple has launched a new online hub to bring what you need most from the Apple Store to the company's website.
