Does everybody remember when the opening of new Apple retail stores was a weekly cause for celebration and excitement? Oh, for the days when we all thrilled to the appearance of new "Opening Soon" locations on Apple's web site! Unfortunately, once Apple got its current twenty-seven stores all up and running by last Christmas, suddenly the openings dried up completely. The last store to open was Cambridgeside, which went live on December 15th-- over two full months ago. We're starting to go through Grand Opening withdrawal, here.

And it's not like Apple planned on stopping at twenty-seven; heck, there are locations that were announced way back in last May which still aren't operational yet (like the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago, for example). We respect Apple's need to take a little breather after the breakneck pace at which it managed to crank out twenty-seven stores by the end of last year, but if the company is serious about meeting its retail coverage goal, it had better get cracking soon; a BusinessWeek article pointed out by faithful viewer David Lane claims that Apple "expects to have 124 stores by the end of 2003." That's a lot more stores than we expected Apple to open, which is great and all, but it's just not going to happen unless Apple gets back into its new-store-each-week groove.

(By the way, that BusinessWeek article is mostly about how Apple store employees supposedly aren't trained enough in the art of sales to close as many deals as they should. Maybe yes and maybe no, but the last thing we want to experience during an excursion to our local Apple boutique is high-pressure sales tactics. We've always found the Apple store staff to be friendly and helpful without being pushy. If they ever start saying "What's it gonna take to put you behind the wheel of a new Mac today?" and talking about the benefits of rustproofing and a protective undercoating, we're outta there. But we digress.)

Good news, though; the Grand Opening drought may indeed be drawing quickly to a close. If, like us, you routinely visit Apple's jobs page and search for the word "Genius" to discover upcoming retail store locations, you've probably known for a while that a new store is slated to open in Durham, North Carolina. What you may not know is what faithful viewer Jim Haverkamp just told us: that the mall in which that store will go, The Streets at Southpoint, is brand new and scheduled to open in just over two weeks' time. While it's by no means a sure thing, it might be reasonable to assume that Apple plans to open its store at the same time-- on Friday, March 8th. The fact that Apple is no longer hiring Mac Geniuses or a store manager for that location certainly hints at an imminent opening. Prepare for the Apple Retail Invasion, Wave 2!