According to a March 23 article in “The Buffalo News,” Apple is apparently planning a retail store in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, NY. According to the story, Apple has chosen Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga and a few other New York State malls owned by the Pyramid Company as sites for an upcoming line of retail stores.
Keep in mind, however, that Apple hasn’t even officially confirmed that it’s planning retail stores. And representatives of the Galleria, and its owner, Syracuse-based Pyramid Cos., both declined to comment on the stores. But “sources familiar with negotiations indicated the first-ever Apple stores will see their debut in the next six months,” according to The Buffalo News.
Besides the Galleria, Pyramid is said to have signed Apple to space in its soon-to-expand Carousel Center in Syracuse, and its three million square foot Palisades Center in West Nyack, just outside New York City.
“While Apple is not talking, it has made moves in the past year which signal its interest in the retail world,” The Buffalo News said. “Among its recent hires were a former real estate executive for Gap, a merchandising director from Target and it also added Gap president and chief executive Mickey Drexler to its board of directors. And at least one mall developer has gone public regarding his company’s new tenant/landlord relationship with the high-profile PC company. Terry McEwen, of Memphis-based Poag & McEwen Lifestyles Centers, told Shopping Centers Today, a retail trade publication, Apple will open a 6,200-square-foot store in his company’s Littleton, Colo., center in November.”
Apple has also been rumored to be window shopping in such places as San Francisco, CA, Scottsdale, AZ, and Chicago, IL.