I popped by the Victoria Gardens location one last time today ❤️. I chatted with the Apple specialists about the renovation, and they confirmed the details I had found out about the temporary store. They even showed me pictures of the location (though I didn’t manage to snap them from their iPhone).
Here are the details about the renovation for the Victoria Gardens store:
✔️ The temporary space is in the Athleta store by the courtyard, just across the street from the permanent store. The manager took some pictures from the outside and was talking about it with her colleague and me. The facade looks the same, except for the Athleta signs and the fabric awnings. The windows are currently covered with black, words and rainbow-coloured apple logos, which is similar to what you’d see at an under-construction Apple Store.
Employees have been aware of this since March, a month ago, and they officially announced it on the Apple website at the start of April, after Apple’s 50th Anniversary. They also confirmed that they’ll reopen in September for the iPhone 18 launch, so they don’t have to worry about using the cramped and smaller Athleta clothing store location to handle an iPhone launch day, which is one of the busiest times of the year when customers fill stores.
All online order pickups and Vision Pro demos/genius bar reservations are paused for the time being including on weekdays due to the closure.
Everything checks out perfectly with my tip!
Here’s a nice thing the manager/lead did with the last customers in its final days: she gave me free Apple Camp shirt ❤️ as they started winding down for its final closing day tomorrow. I wasn’t expecting them to give out free stuff on closing days, but when the grand reopening comes out this September, I’ll definitely swing by!