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

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Apr 12, 2001
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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.
Click to expand...
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.

houston_highland_village_store.jpg

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
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/01/rumored-houston-retail-store-grand-opening-sparks-speculation-of-ipad-3-launch-on-march-16/
Darth.Titan

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
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.
 
Acerone

Acerone

macrumors regular
Mar 3, 2009
142
23
The grand opening and launch of the iPad 3... Can this new store handle it... :D
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,347
8,699
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
 
Chupa Chupa

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
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.
 
A

AlPlPlLE

macrumors regular
Jan 10, 2012
234
0
Just curious...Smarter to launch a new product on weekend or last day of working week? Does it matter?
 
chrmjenkins

chrmjenkins

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Oct 29, 2007
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Chupa Chupa said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
D

Doombringer

macrumors regular
Feb 13, 2012
162
0
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.
 
Peace

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
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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.
 
S

scoobydoo99

Cancelled
Mar 11, 2003
1,007
353
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

Kyotoma

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2010
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Not completely ridiculous. Nine day's difference is one less than the 4S keynote to launch.


Peace said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
J

JS77

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2008
231
2
Peace said:
So we had better be sitting in front of the screen midnight March 9th because these are gonna go fast.
Click to expand...

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?? :eek:
 
P

pmau

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2010
1,569
854
JS77 said:
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?? :eek:
Click to expand...

And people would start using pencils again ... saying they are so "Retina" :D
 
Lesser Evets

Lesser Evets

macrumors 68040
Jan 7, 2006
3,527
1,294
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.
 
P

pmau

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2010
1,569
854
I want to order at midnight 8th of March. I couldn't care less about a new store...
 
N

nickelt

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Apr 23, 2009
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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)

Lesser Evets said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

ghostface147

macrumors 601
May 28, 2008
4,164
5,134
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...
 
M

mattraehl

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2005
384
1
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.
 
H

HurtinMinorKey

macrumors 6502
Jan 18, 2012
437
169
Lesser Evets said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

its93rc

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Feb 8, 2012
538
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Texas
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

Peace

Cancelled
Apr 1, 2005
19,546
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Space The Only Frontier
Kyotoma said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
Lesser Evets said:
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.
Click to expand...

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