Apple Store Near Sydney Permanently Closing Next Month

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced its store at the Westfield Hornsby shopping mall, in Hornsby, Australia, will be permanently closing next month.

Hornsby is a suburb of Sydney, on the Upper North Shore. Apple opened its store there in 2011, and it will close for good on October 4, at 5 p.m. local time.

In a statement shared with some Australian media outlets a few months ago, Apple said it had decided not to renew its lease at Westfield Hornsby. Apple said all affected retail employees would be given the opportunity to work at Apple's nearby store at the Chatswood Chase shopping mall, in Chatswood, which is set to reopen in October.

Apple Hornsby​

Apple Chatswood Chase has been closed for renovations for many months. Apple said the store will be completely redesigned, and it will offer an Apple Pickup station for collecting online orders, and a dedicated area for Today at Apple sessions. With the Chatswood Chase store set to expand, Apple decided to close its Hornsby store.

The company has six other stores in the Sydney area.

Apple has permanently closed a handful of its stores in 2025, but it has also opened many new locations this year, including in Miami, Shenzhen, Osaka, Bengaluru, and elsewhere. Earlier today, Apple announced that its all-new store in Downtown Detroit will be holding its grand opening on Friday, September 19, at 5 p.m. local time.

Elsewhere in Australia, Apple relocated its store in Perth to a historic bank building in June.

Article Link: Apple Store Near Sydney Permanently Closing Next Month

 

[britboyj]

and a dedicated area for Today at Apple session

Has there ever been a bigger waste of manpower and store space than this nonsense? I've *never* seen anyone actually paying attention to this, it's just bored people waiting for their Genius "Bar" appointments in that "grove" of uncomfortable cube Angela Ahrendts shoved down everyone's throats.

I feel bad for some of the employees, who give it all the gusto of TED Talk every time, but man, no one is listening dude.

 

[Shirasaki]

I feel bad for some of the employees, who give it all the gusto of TED Talk every time, but man, no one is listening dude.

The “no one is listening” part is so painfully real. Even in Apple Sydney, arguably the flagship store in metropolitan Sydney, I can barely see anyone sitting around eagerly listening to what staff is introducing. Feels kind of bizarre and weird sometimes. Of course, I always go straight to Genius Bar or just browse around without care.

 

[Wanted797]

The “no one is listening” part is so painfully real. Even in Apple Sydney, arguably the flagship store in metropolitan Sydney, I can barely see anyone sitting around eagerly listening to what staff is introducing. Feels kind of bizarre and weird sometimes. Of course, I always go straight to Genius Bar or just browse around without care.

Have you spoken to an Apple employee recently?

What used to be enjoyable and informative has become a rather painful experience of marketing speak and reading off the spec sheet. Apple hires their staff to “look cool” rather than have a knowledge of their products. I gave up bothering to ask for help a few years ago. Even the Genius Bar has become painful to deal with.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Hate to see one of the iStores close... Sad day for the city and the employees!

 

[16”]

Apple you should open a store in windsor or richmond, think different.

 

[BelgianChoklit]

Even Apple can't pay the rent anymore

 

[sevoneone]

I'd love to see how the numbers for the Retail stores have shifted over the past 10-12 years. What's the average sales per square foot these days? Have product sales slumped while Genius Bar and Repair services have jumped?

With any Apple product on sale for at least 10-15% off somewhere nearly year round, how many people outside the wealthiest locations like Corte Madera in Marin County and White Plains New York walk into an Apple store these days and pickup a fully loaded MacBook Pro with Apple Care+ and a Apple One Subscription?

I worked at one of those high-wealth locations 15 years ago, and at the time, in that market demographic at least, Apple's Ritz Carlton level of service and psychology approach worked. People with the means will pretty much always choose to shop someplace they know, like and trust. But... the world is very different now. Apple is different now. Does the core Apple user demographic still Know, Like and Trust Apple Retail enough to drop between $2500 and $6,000 in store and in one go when they can probably pickup the same system from Microcenter and save $1000?

 

[Avidos1]

Apple stores were set up as a marketing tool, the model is now to make them profitable, if that continues most will close then the thing that drives sales to their products will be gone, a short sighted excercise in penny pinching

 

[@Brett]

Have you spoken to an Apple employee recently?

What used to be enjoyable and informative has become a rather painful experience of marketing speak and reading off the spec sheet. Apple hires their staff to “look cool” rather than have a knowledge of their products. I gave up bothering to ask for help a few years ago. Even the Genius Bar has become painful to deal with.

I call BS. I’ve been to the Chadstone store in Melbourne Australia. And the staff pleasant and very helpful. A few people’s experiences do not paint the whole picture. Service for me was great and always has been.

 

[oldmacs]

Frustrating - I hate going to Chatswood, Hornsby is better...

 

[fatTribble]

Apple said all affected retail employees would be given the opportunity to work at Apple's nearby store at the Chatswood Chase shopping mall, in Chatswood, which is set to reopen in October.

I really like this about Apple.
The company I used to work for would use any excuse or justification to “reduce headcount “.

 

[AussieStu]

we need one in werribee or geelong. hate needing to drive hours to get the a store

 

[bLackjackj]

No surprises there. If Apple aren’t making money on a store, it closes. No different to any other retail outlet.

 

[aussie-reader]

I used to use the Hornsby store on a regular basis and found the team excellent. I have since switched to using the Charlestown store, initially it was a bit touch and go but in recent years it has also been excellent.

Yes, the Apple sessions are sometimes sparsely filled but others seem to have a full set of listeners, perhaps time of day/day of the week makes a significant difference.

If the new Chatswood store is bigger with a better layout then that will help alleviate some of the challenges of the Hornsby store closing but it will not be as convenient as the Hornsby one has been for the upper north shore suburbs of Sydney and lower Central Coast. Getting to Chatswood can be a real pain at the weekend. Perhaps the Castle Towers one will be easier for some.

 

[x86dude]

The Chatswood store has been closed almost a year.
It must be one of the most profitable in Australia.
It makes no sense.

 

[litmag01]

I really like this about Apple.
The company I used to work for would use any excuse or justification to “reduce headcount “.

You are totally right. Most companies don't. But the "been there, done that" side of this is not as rosy. It is more of a slow-mo politically correct RIF. For full-time employees generally this means the following:

• A reduction of hours, to the minute, just below the threshold of full-time and thereby loss of full benefits.
• Filling in shifts for other staff, generally involving clopening (the absolute worst!) or multiple small shifts scattered across a pay period with no constancy.
• Often moved to a position for which you were not trained.

Positively, the hourly rate doesn't change (at least in some states in the US), and there is time to look for another position, or take on a second, or third job, or online flex schooling.

 

[jace88]

The headline stating that Hornsby is "Near Sydney" is a bit misleading. I don't know too many people from Sydney who would describe it as such!

ps. Wonder if this means my Apple Store Hornsby shirt from the opening day many years ago will go up in value... probably not given it's a bit tatty and used as my PJ shirt.

 

[mackard]

I can't believe hornsby made global news.... Center of the universe it is. These days there are more pensioners on the seats outside using free wifi than in the store.

There was a time where i knew more then apple staff. Then there was a time where i was more interested in apple than apple staff. Then apple made products that were not interesting. Out of their entire line, the 15 inch macbook air and maaaybe some 13 inch ipad (and of course the mac mini) is the only thing of note they sell.

 

[MacLawyer]

I'm ready to move to Oz and apply for a job.

 

[Oceadge]

The headline stating that Hornsby is "Near Sydney" is a bit misleading. I don't know too many people from Sydney who would describe it as such!

ps. Wonder if this means my Apple Store Hornsby shirt from the opening day many years ago will go up in value... probably not given it's a bit tatty and used as my PJ shirt.

I still have my Hornsby t-shirt (and "Grand Opening Visitor's Guide") too, rolled up in it's original box!

 

[Oceadge]

I can remember the manager at this Hornsby store not being too happy with me when I tried to return my iPhone 5 there in 2012 because of all the dents and scratches on it. She actually raised her voice at me which I was surprised about from an Apple manager. She was probably just over so many people returning scratched iPhones that week.

I was told they "do not replace phones with cosmetic defects out of the box". They tried to replace it with a refurbished model but I said no. She then told me I had one more chance and I needed to agree to open the box in store and accept it no matter how bad it looked. If it was more scratched than the previous one then I had to keep the worse one, they wouldn't be able to exchange it for the original one. I said no and asked for a refund. I then contacted online support and they sent me one in perfect condition.

 

[entropys]

The headline stating that Hornsby is "Near Sydney" is a bit misleading. I don't know too many people from Sydney who would describe it as such!

ps. Wonder if this means my Apple Store Hornsby shirt from the opening day many years ago will go up in value... probably not given it's a bit tatty and used as my PJ shirt.

I was born in Wahroonga (Hornsby closest big shops back then) and but lived in Queensland most of my life. From a distance Hornsby is just a suburb of Sydney, although there wasn’t anything of note past Hornsby back then, and Westfield did not exist). The distance to Chatswood is nothing, but I do recognise it’s a bit of a drive timewise.

Has there ever been a bigger waste of manpower and store space than this nonsense? I've *never* seen anyone actually paying attention to this, it's just bored people waiting for their Genius "Bar" appointments in that "grove" of uncomfortable cube Angela Ahrendts shoved down everyone's throats.

I feel bad for some of the employees, who give it all the gusto of TED Talk every time, but man, no one is listening dude.

For anyone over the age of 30 it’s too hard to hear anything anyway. And yes, the chairs suck.

 

[Wanted797]

I call BS. I’ve been to the Chadstone store in Melbourne Australia. And the staff pleasant and very helpful. A few people’s experiences do not paint the whole picture. Service for me was great and always has been.

I didn’t say they weren’t pleasant. They’re always very kind but seemed to have no idea about the products they sell.

 

[3Gmatt]

we need one in werribee or geelong. hate needing to drive hours to get the a store

Werribee, lol good luck. Geelong I’d agree with.