Rumored Houston Retail Store Grand Opening Sparks Speculation of iPad 3 Launch on March 16

[MacRumors]

The Houston Chronicle reports that Apple's forthcoming Highland Village retail store will be opening on Friday, March 16. According to the report's source, the store was originally scheduled to open in January, but delays in the construction schedule pushed the opening back to Saturday, March 17. But just weeks ago the opening was bumped up by a day to March 16, sparking speculation that the company is seeking to have the store open for an iPad 3 launch on that day.

The store, located in the Highland Village Shopping center at Westheimer and Drexel , was originally supposed to open in January, according to the source, but was delayed. March 17 was originally set as the new opening date, but the source said it was moved to the 16th a few weeks ago.

Apple retail store grand openings for the public typically take place on Saturdays, although they are occasionally held on different days of the week when special circumstances dictate.

An iPad 3 launch on March 16 would line up nicely with Apple's media event scheduled for next Wednesday, March 7, putting the launch nine days after the event. The exact same timing occurred last year with the iPad 2 being introduced on March 2 and debuting at 5:00 PM local time on March 11. Pre-orders were not available for the iPad 2, leaving those looking to get their hands on the device as soon as possible to line up for the limited launch stock.

Photo by Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle

The Highland Village store is among the first of Apple's retail stores to be based on a prototype design from the company's Upper West Side store in Manhattan. Similar designs are in the works in Santa Monica and Palo Alto. Utilizing an all-glass roof and entrances at front and back, the Highland Village store will be the first of the Houston area's seven Apple retail stores to be located outside of a shopping mall.

Article Link: Rumored Houston Retail Store Grand Opening Sparks Speculation of iPad 3 Launch on March 16

[Darth.Titan]

A brand new store with a brand new staff, and Apple wants to dump a new product release on them the first day?

Glad I don't work for Apple.

[uaecasher]

As an architecture student I find the apple store extremely well designed

[Acerone]

The grand opening and launch of the iPad 3... Can this new store handle it...

[nfl46]

Maybe I misread it. But if I am understanding this correctly, people think the iPad 3 is coming out on March 16th because ONE store launch date got moved from the 17th to 16th?

o_O

[GunZi]

and March 23rd for other Europe Countries?

[Chupa Chupa]

Every since the March 7 announcement became unofficially official, i.e., it had Jim Dalrymple's imprimatur, my hunch has always been on sale date would be the 16th. This almost confirms it for me.

[AlPlPlLE]

Just curious...Smarter to launch a new product on weekend or last day of working week? Does it matter?

[chrmjenkins]

Originally Posted by Chupa Chupa

Every since the March 7 announcement became unofficially official, i.e., it had Jim Dalrymple's imprimatur, my hunch has always been on sale date would be the 16th. This almost confirms it for me.

Apple likes to launch products on Friday + 2 days notice too short = the 16th. They typically do a 5-14 day window, so this date shouldn't surprise anyone.

[Doombringer]

Seems very likely. If the iPad 2 launched nine days after the announcement last year, and this store opening has been bumped up to fit that timeframe... well, it's very possible.

[ayala421]

I work 5 minutes from this new store!!!

Go Houston TEXANS!!

[Peace]

Here's how it's gonna go down.

March 7th Keynote--

Apple introduces the new Apple TV,IOS 5.1 and the iPad 3

The Apple TV can be ordered same day. IOS 5.1 is released.

Pre-Orders for the iPad 3 start March 9th at Midnight with delivery March 16th.

So we had better be sitting in front of the screen midnight March 9th because these are gonna go fast.

[scoobydoo99]

Could we have more "rumors" stories on Apple store openings, please. I just can't get enough.

And no, the opening date of this one store has nothing to do with the iPad3 availability date.

[Kyotoma]

Not completely ridiculous. Nine day's difference is one less than the 4S keynote to launch.

Originally Posted by Peace

Here's how it's gonna go down.

March 7th Keynote--

Apple introduces the new Apple TV,IOS 5.1 and the iPad 3

The Apple TV can be ordered same day. IOS 5.1 is released.

Pre-Orders for the iPad 3 start March 9th at Midnight with delivery March 16th.

So we had better be sitting in front of the screen midnight March 9th because these are gonna go fast.

I doubt iOS 5.1 would be released the same day. Us developers haven't even seen a Golden Master yet. Then again, we could see a GM this weekend, which would give us almost two weeks to finalize our apps for submission.

[JS77]

Originally Posted by Peace

So we had better be sitting in front of the screen midnight March 9th because these are gonna go fast.

Apple could release a pencil sharpener and there would be a line outside every Apple Store...

...good lord, what has Apple turned us all into??

[pmau]

Originally Posted by JS77

Apple could release a pencil sharpener and there would be a line outside every Apple Store...

...good lord, what has Apple turned us all into??

And people would start using pencils again ... saying they are so "Retina"

[Lesser Evets]

This is a hilarious story.

Yes... Apple is waiting for ONE store. In Houston. Yeah. Hold on world, investors, Wall Street, employees, Chinese manufacturers: we have to wait for someone to install wood floors in Houston.

[pmau]

I want to order at midnight 8th of March. I couldn't care less about a new store...

[nickelt]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

This is a hilarious story.

Yes... Apple is waiting for ONE store. In Houston. Yeah. Hold on world, investors, Wall Street, employees, Chinese manufacturers: we have to wait for someone to install wood floors in Houston.

You didnt read it right. Apple isnt waiyin for this store to release the ipad 3. The store is going to open a day early for the ipad3

[ghostface147]

Ok so they are opening a new store inside the loop where it is a congested area already with very limited parking, if any at times. Ok...

[mattraehl]

Makes no sense, why on earth would you want to open a store on the day of a highly-anticipated product launch? Seems like a recipe for disaster.

[HurtinMinorKey]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

This is a hilarious story.

Yes... Apple is waiting for ONE store. In Houston. Yeah. Hold on world, investors, Wall Street, employees, Chinese manufacturers: we have to wait for someone to install wood floors in Houston.

So true.

Houston isn't exactly a hub of innovation. Plus, I live right across from the Moscone Center in SF and I've seen a fair number of Apple infantry here already.

[its93rc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I know where I won't be going to buy my iPad 3. Also, is it just me, or is The Galleria Apple Store too small?

[Peace]

Originally Posted by Kyotoma

Not completely ridiculous. Nine day's difference is one less than the 4S keynote to launch.




I doubt iOS 5.1 would be released the same day. Us developers haven't even seen a Golden Master yet. Then again, we could see a GM this weekend, which would give us almost two weeks to finalize our apps for submission.

The GM has been on the back burner for almost two months. Since the last seed. There's nothing in the GM that devs need to submit their apps.

[chrmjenkins]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

This is a hilarious story.

Yes... Apple is waiting for ONE store. In Houston. Yeah. Hold on world, investors, Wall Street, employees, Chinese manufacturers: we have to wait for someone to install wood floors in Houston.

This is about them moving the store's opening date, not changing the launch date for this store.