Arkansas to Become 44th U.S. State With an Apple Retail Store

[MacRumors]

Promenade at Chenal, Little Rock, Arkansas
As noted by ifoAppleStore and several eagle-eyed observers who reported the developments to us, Apple is preparing to open a new retail store this October in Little Rock, Arkansas. The store will be the company's first in that state.

After an extended four-year courtship, Apple has finalized plans -- for a second time -- to open a store at the Promenade at Chenal mall in Little Rock (Ark.). Job listings for the future store were posted last week, indicating an October grand opening.

Apple had been preparing to open a store in Little Rock several years ago, filing building plans in November 2007 and following that up with job postings in January 2008. Those plans apparently fell through, but it now appears that Apple has revived the project and is going forward with it, having signed a lease committing itself to the new space.

Arkansas should become the 44th U.S. state with at least one Apple retail store, with its opening apparently set to come just after Apple opens its first Alaskan store in September. With those openings, just six states will be without an Apple retail store: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Article Link: Arkansas to Become 44th U.S. State With an Apple Retail Store

 

[Laird Knox]

Perhaps they can just have a van drive around to the other six states?

 

[kingtj]

At least in Vermont ....

They have "Small Dog Electronics", which has been around for years as an authorized Apple dealer, and seems to be fairly reputable.

Heck, I live in Missouri where we have several Apple stores and I still ordered a used Cinema display from Small Dog one time.

(Plus, they give out free Vermont Maple Syrup if you earn enough purchasing points with them. Heh....)

 

[HDJulie]

As a resident of Little Rock, I am very pleased that it is us getting the store .

 

[Apple...]

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Would love one in SD, please!

 

[willmtaylor]

Stupid Little Rock

It's idiotic that Little Rock, and not Northwest Arkansas, where there's multiple major international businesses and several universities, is getting an Apple Store. Simply idiotic.

 

[rdowns]

Yeah, Apple. Redneck-Americans deserve iDevices too.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

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There's no Apple Store in Kansas. There's one in Overland Park, but it's on the Missouri side. KS is still left behind.

 

[JaymanKC]

no store in Kansas

The store in the KC area is actually in Kansas City, in the Plaza, which is indeed in Missouri. But yes, you are right, there is no store in Kansas.

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There's no Apple Store in Kansas. There's one in Overland Park, but it's on the Missouri side. KS is still left behind.

 

[quinney]

Yeah, Apple. Redneck-Americans deserve iDevices too.

If the crowds at a product release get unruly, the governor can call out the national guard.

 

[LanPhantom]

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Do people in West Viginia even use computers?

 

[freedevil]

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Do people in West Viginia even use computers?

No, which is why their home made videos never get on the internet.

 

[willmtaylor]

Apple Store in KS

The store in the KC area is actually in Kansas City, in the Plaza, which is indeed in Missouri. But yes, you are right, there is no store in Kansas.

Wrong, both of you. Wrong. There's one 119th street in Leawood, KS, which is part of/next to Overland Park.

Think -> Look -> Post.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Wrong, both of you. Wrong. There's one 119th street in Leawood, KS, which is part of/next to Overland Park.

Think -> Look -> Post.

I stand corrected. I had seen that store before, but forgot about it. Even so, I ran a Google Maps search on my iPhone + store search in the Apple Store app and neither turned up the Leawood store.

So before you assume we didn't think or look,...

I'm not going to pretend to know why both of the apps ignore the Leawood store.

Additionally, here's a snapshot of the Apple.com retail store finder. The search box clearly says you can input the state, so I input 'Kansas'.

 

[Gasu E.]

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Do people in West Viginia even use computers?

Putting an Apple Store in West Virginia would be tough. First, they would need
to find enough Geniuses to staff the Genius Bar. Second, Apple would have to develop a trailer-sized store format.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Other U.S. Places with No Apple Store

These U.S. jurisdictions also do not have Apple stores:

Puerto Rico
Guam
U.S. Virgin Islands
American Samoa
Northern Mariana Islands

San Juan, Puerto Rico is a very strong candidate to get an Apple store, probably at the Plaza Las Américas.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Putting an Apple Store in West Virginia would be tough.... Second, Apple would have to develop a trailer-sized store format.

No problem: just find a double-wide.

Actually, it'd be really cool if a piece of the store was located in a former coal mine.

 

[Lesser Evets]

I understand West Virginia: most people aren't making great money there.

I understand Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, South Dakota: not any serious population centers.

I don't understand North Dakota: 200,000 people in the Fargo-Grand Forks corridor including a good amount of MS workers who love their Apple products.

They'll probably put one there in a few years.

 

[Hastings101]

Yeeeeeehaw, this is some good news

 

[willmtaylor]

Yowses

I stand corrected. I had seen that store before, but forgot about it. Even so, I ran a Google Maps search on my iPhone + store search in the Apple Store app and neither turned up the Leawood store.

So before you assume we didn't think or look,...

I'm not going to pretend to know why both of the apps ignore the Leawood store.

Additionally, here's a snapshot of the Apple.com retail store finder. The search box clearly says you can input the state, so I input 'Kansas'.

Yeah you're right, this was a tough one....

 

[amethystjw]

Continental USA map

Here's a quick visual for this write-up:

 

[jmooring]

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Someday, school children will be tested on this. "Now class, which state was 44th to open an Apple store?"

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Yeah you're right, this was a tough one....

Why would I search for Kansas City, MO when I'm located in Kansas. Just why? I mean, say I'm not even located near Kansas City, there's no way I'd click Kansas City unless I was that desperate. Get real.

Clearly the search button needs work if a search for 'Kansas' doesn't return 'Leawood, KS', but returns 'Kansas, IL', 'Kansas, OH', etc.

Obviously it appears to be determining relevance by city name.

 

[true777]

Weird to put it at the Promenade in Chenal -- a dead outdoor mall out in the 'burbs where half the stores are unoccupied and I've never seen more than 3 people walk around.

There's an elegant, hugely popular indoor mall called Park Plaza that's centrally located (close to the university, the best residential neighborhoods, and the downtown area -- it's also the only mall in LR that has the good department stores). Park Plaza would have been infinitely more suitable than the dead Chenal Promenade. Weird choice, Apple usually gets it right.

 

[willmtaylor]

University

Weird to put it at the Promenade in Chenal -- a dead outdoor mall out in the 'burbs where half the stores are unoccupied and I've never seen more than 3 people walk around.

There's an elegant, hugely popular indoor mall called Park Plaza that's centrally located (close to the university, the best residential neighborhoods, and the downtown area -- it's also the only mall in LR that has the good department stores). Park Plaza would have been infinitely more suitable than the dead Chenal Promenade. Weird choice, Apple usually gets it right.

I agree with you about University being a better area than Chenal, but I think that it should be across the street from Park Plaza mall in the newer "promenade-like" shopping area that has the Pottery Born, Outdoor Outfitters, Container Store, Starbucks, etc.

Either way, I'm upset because now I won't be able to ship to AR and avoid sales tax any more.