Do you prefer the iPod mini over its big brother in spite of its much lower storage capacity not because its more portable, but just because it looks "cuter"? Does any visit to a supermarket or drug store require twenty minutes of oohing and aahing over the eensy trial-size shampoos and bottles of Scope? Are you the president of your local Verne Troyer fan club? Then good news about money wasn't the only fun stuff to emerge from Apple's Q4 earnings conference call tonight; for fans of all things diminutive, Apple also finally formally acknowledged its long-rumored plans to add mini retail stores-- and the first six are opening this weekend.

He was maddeningly vague when it comes to details, but yes, CFO Peter "Stop Calling Me Fred" Oppenheimer revealed that Apple is about to unveil "an entirely new retail design for a store that is half the size of our smallest store to date." Unfortunately he offered no insight into just what that design might be like, stating only that it will allow the company to establish a retail presence in "a variety of interesting new locations." But what interesting new locations? On an orbiting space station? In a bus station men's room? The mind reels. We know the first six will open "this Saturday across the U.S.," but ol' Pete neglected to mention exactly where.

Thank heaven for ifo Apple Store, then, who fills in most of the missing puzzle pieces. On the design front, reportedly the mini-stores will look the same as their larger siblings on the outside (only maybe a little smaller-- duh), but inside they'll have "flat, epoxy floors, stainless steel wall panels, wooden counters for hardware displays, and metal shelving for software and accessories." The walls themselves are said to be "back-lit photographs of people and activities," the ceiling is a "one-piece, translucent, back-lit membrane" (cooool), and there'll be a single counter at the rear of each store staffed by only a single pair of Wonder Twins. Most interestingly, ifo Apple Store reports that the mini-stores are apparently going to operate as satellite locations for nearby "full" Apple retail stores (which will obviously stock a lot more merchandise), and the mini-staff will be in constant communication with the personnel at the "main" location via AirPort-compatible Vocera Communications Badges.

As for where these puppies might open come Saturday, ifo Apple Store's got that, too: it lists seven locations, six of which-- three in northern California, two in Jersey, and one in the Seattle area-- are no more than forty miles away from an existing Apple retail store. The seventh, Carousel Center in New York, is "the one that does not open this weekend," presumably because it's 143 miles away from the closest existing Apple store and therefore doesn't have a nearby Big Brother to hook up with. More info may well be available by the time you read this, since Apple has reportedly called a Thursday press event at the mini-store at the Stanford Shopping Center, just down the road a few blocks from Apple's Palo Alto store. Prepare for cuteness!