Apple to Open First Store in Wuhan Soon

Apple announced on Thursday that the company will soon open its first official retail store in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, in central China. The store will open to the public on Saturday and will mark Apple’s 54th store in China.

The new store in Wuhan will feature an exclusive pick-up area, which is not available in other stores. According to Apple, the new area is to give customers a more efficient and smooth online and offline shopping experience.

The Wuhan store is equipped with a retail team composed of 128 employees, 40% of whom have worked in other Apple Stores. More than half of the members are from the local province so as to provide better communication with local consumers.

Apple was attracted to the city by its central location within China and burgeoning student population. Being a well-connected city in terms of transportation, the company hopes to capitalize on the 1.3 million students who inhabit the city much of the year.

Inspired by local culture, Apple designed a unique logo for the new store by using specific colors and water waves to symbolize the rivers flowing through Wuhan and the diversity of the local people.

SEE ALSO: Apple Reportedly Lowers 2022 AirPods Production

At present, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing enjoy the largest number of Apple Stores in China. Although Apple’s sales in the past three months have been affected by interruptions to the supply chain caused by the epidemic, the company’s investment in new Apple stores in China shows confidence in the regional markets. In the newly released report, Apple’s revenue in China was $18.343 billion in the quarter ended in March, up 3% from $17.728 billion in the same period last year.