So far, Apple’s retail store expansion has missed the second largest city in the Vancouver (Canada) region, but now tipsters say that oversight will be corrected. A future store will be constructed in Surrey, a city of nearly half a million residents to the southeast of city center Vancouver. No specific location has been identified for the store, but there are several possibilities: the independent malls at Guildford Town Centre or The Shops at Morgan Crossing. Perhaps significantly, the former mall is undergoing a large expansion that opens this fall, and which could host a new Apple store. The region already has five Apple stores, with the closest to Surrey being Coquitlam Centre, nine miles north. Because store construction hasn’t yet been spotted anywhere, a timeline for the store’s grand opening isn’t known.

Just weeks after job listings first appeared for a future Bonn (Germany) Apple retail store, tipsters claim they’ve identified the location as an historic building on Münsterplatz in city center. According to the General Anzeiger Web site, the Commerzbank now occupies a ground-floor space at #1-3, facing the city’s main public square. At least a portion of that space would be vacated, the blog states, and an Apple store would be installed. Typically, a new store opens within six months of its job listings being posted, or this August. However, the bank space does not appear to be under construction for an Apple store. An older, historic building, such as the one in Münsterplatz, would require lengthy demolition, restoration of the original features, and then construction of the Apple store. However, if the tipsters are correct, the store would be just yards from the statue of home town composer Ludwig van Beethoven, a location visited by thousands of locals and tourists each year. The store would provide fill-in coverage for the western portion of the country, which now has 11 stores.

Employees of a local architectural firm were drinking mojitos Tuesday night after the Miami Beach (Fla.) Historic Preservation Board approved Apple’s latest attempt to build an expansion store for the existing Lincoln Road retail store. Despite objections by the board’s staff and a recommendation to delay approval, board members unanimously approved an all-glass storefront with a stone frame, about three blocks from the current store. The proposal still must be approved by other city boards, but the store could open by early 2013. Apple has been trying to find a larger space along the pedestrian-only Lincoln Road for at least two years. The original store opened in July 2006, and stands out among Apple’s other stores with its white, Deco-style storefront. But the narrow 30-foot storefront mirrors an equally small interior space that doesn’t provide enough space for customers, trainees or Genius Bar visitors. A June 2012 expansion proposal using an Upper West Side (NYC) design met with near-universal criticism from city officials and citizens that it didn’t blend in with the district’s historic architecture. Apple bailed out of the project and has now taken a different approach—they downgraded the architecture from “grand” to simply “elegant.” On Tuesday morning, the Historic Preservation Board discussed the project, which was presented by the local architects Touzet Studio. After the project was unanimously approved, Touzet promptly announced it on their Facebook page. “We just got approved for our newest project on Lincoln Road!” the company said. “This is an amazing client and a great site. Time for a celebratory mojito!”

Download (pdf) the Miami Beach staff report to the Historic Preservation Board recommending that consideration of the proposal be delayed, pending a revised design that would correct various historic preservation issues.

The store’s architectural design is a standard one created by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (San Francisco), and used at several stores, specifically the Americana at Brand (Calif.) store. It will have a 22-foot tall storefront and span 13,845 square-feet on the ground-floor and in a set-back upper level that’s invisible from street-level.

The local architects, Touzet Studio, also prepared renderings and did other work for Apple’s proposal last year. But the firm does not appear to have been involved in other Apple store projects. The company’s Web site does not mention Apple or its stores. However, in an odd coincident, Touzet was used by Gap when they needed city approval for a store located at 1001 Lincoln Road, the space that Apple had hoped to occupy in 2012.

This rendering of the approved Lincoln Road 2 design is a standard Apple store design: all-glass with a stone frame. It’s similar to the Americana at Brand (S. Calif.) store.

Here are the three Lincoln Road storefronts (l. to r.): current, proposed in 2012 and the design just approved. Notice how the 2012 version was on a grand scale, and the approved version is much more restrained. Click on the photos for a larger view.

The staff report noted the original building dates to 1935 and was designed by noted architect Russell T. Pancoast. The building contained two retail bays, variously occupied by an Auburn-Dusenberg-Cord auto salon, a gift shift and furniture store.

According to the staff report, the proposed design didn’t meet several of the standard “appropriateness” criteria for the Lincoln Road district, including exterior architectural features; general design, scale, massing and arrangement; relationship to other structures and features of the district, and the purpose for which the district was design.

However, it did meet other criteria, including texture, material and color; having an historic resources report; and the dimensions of the building, setbacks, parking spaces and floor area ratio.

As for the demolition of the existing structure on the lot, the board was torn—the building isn’t one of the last remaining examples of its kind in the neighborhood, but it is within a district that is listed on a national and local register of historic architecture.

The staff noted that all the original 1935 decorative features have been removed over time, “reducing the building to an undistinguished and disjointed retail façade on Lincoln Road.” The buildings steel girders are really the only remaining structure of the original, the board concluded. Inside, “a single lonesome ceiling grille” is the only original structure that remains.

A proposed interior skylight will help recreate the interior courtyard area of the original building, the staff wrote in their report to the board. “This skylight will flood the sales area below with natural light and successfully break up the perceived larger volume of the new store in a manner that recalls the original auto salon and furniture showroom area, where it interfaced with the open courtyard.”

The staff also said Apple’s design successfully retains the upper façade of the original store. However, “Staff does not believe that the applicant has preserved or recalled in any way the original and highly significant (two) storefront configuration that defined the distinctive Russell T. Pancoast ‘two store’ façade design.”

The staff recommended “at a minimum” that Apple recreate two masonry pillars by reinstalling them or by recessing or projecting the glass storefront by eight to 12 inches.

In their report, the staff recommended that approval be continued, and that Apple submit revised designs based on 12 recommendations. The revisions would then be considered during an August 2013 meeting.

This Facebook posting appeared for Touzet Studio, celebrating the approval of the store design.

Apple CEO Tim Cook continued his tradition of opening one of his keynote speeches with an update on the company’s 407 retail stores, and showing off the newest high-profile store. Cook has previously given first-up retail store updates at iPhone and iPad product introductions. At this morning’s kick-off to the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Cook called the stores, “the best place to discover and explore our products.” He noted the stores are now in 14 countries and welcome almost 1 million visitors a day. The stores have become “integral parts of the communities they serve,” Cook said, hosting millions of people for personal training sessions and “tens of thousands” of school children on field trips. Cook then introduced a short video that spotlighted last month’s grand opening of the Kurfürstendamm (Berlin) store. “It is really awesome,” he said, adding that the store building was 100 years old and one of the city’s first theaters. “We’ve painstakingly honored the history of the building by restoring the façade and the original theater, and added some classic Apple touches along the way.” After the short video of the store’s grand opening (music: On Our Way by The Royal Concept), Cook remarked, “It’s a fantastic store and a great location. Only Apple could do this.” Watch the entire keynote presentation.

Apple CEO Tim Cook provided WWDC attendees an update on the newest high-profile Apple retail store in Berlin.

Persistent rumors of the Legacy Village (Ohio) Apple retail store moving away have now been confirmed with the sighting of construction work behind a fence at the Eton Chagrin Boulevard mall, about four miles away. Besides gaining a new location, the store will nearly double in size, insiders say. The current store opened in October 2003 in a 30-foot wide space west of Cleveland. Many of the stores that opened in that era have already been expanded by knocking out walls or moving to a new space. In this case, it’s likely that, for various reasons, Legacy Village could not produce an empty, larger space for Apple. With no prospect of a larger space, and the expiration of the store’s initial 10-year lease, Apple decided to move. Most recently, Apple moved The Gateway (Utah) store operation to a mall nearby, creating the new City Creek store.

The current Legacy Village store (blue pushpin) will move to the Eton Chagrin Boulevard store (red pushpin).

View Legacy Village Moving in a larger map

After several years of searching for the perfect space, Apple will move and expand the Oakridge (N. Calif.) retail store, the last of the nine mini-stores that opened in 2004. Later this year the store will move down the hall to a new space facing the food court that is five times wider and over 15 times bigger than the current space. The project signals the end of the mini-stores, which were intended to allow Apple to occupy smaller spaces, and yet generate almost the same amount of revenue. However, as the number of products has grown over the past eight years, and training and service have become more integral to the stores, the mini-stores couldn’t provide enough space for visitors. For example, at the only other remaining mini-store, employees at Stanford (N. Calif.) must hold training and product set-up sessions outdoors in front of the store. According to sources, the Oakridge store will move about 400 feet east to space #1624, which is just now being vacated by a temporary Victoria’s Secret store. Once construction begins, building permits indicate Apple will relocate four structural steel columns, allowing for more open access inside the store. The current space is about 450 square-feet, while the new space will span 7,500 square-feet. The tiny 15-foot wide current storefront will expand to 60 feet. Based on construction schedules, the expanded store could open in early 2014.

The tiny Oakridge Apple store will move to a much larger space by early 2014. The space faces out onto the mall’s food court and the movie theater box office.

This 60-foot wide space is being vacated by Victoria’s Secret in early June 2013 (they’re moving back into their permanent store after a make-over). Behind the camera is the mall food court. Click on the photo for a larger view.

The 15-foot wide Oakridge Apple store is just wide enough to fit a 2013 Honda Civic—but not wide enough to accommodate the daily crush of visitors.

The side aisles at the Oakridge store are barely four-feet wide, creating traffic jams when even small groups of people talk to one another. The new store will eliminate this congestion.

Up to now, a small rendering photo has been the only image the public has seen of the future Stanford 2 (N. Calif.) Apple retail store, now in the latter stages of construction. But now a tipster has provided a set of photographs that shows the structural steel has been erected, the storefront glass has been installed, and the roof supports are in place. The store will be the first of three to feature a new glass box and visually floating roof design. The architecture is intended to provide a 180-degree interior view of the store for passersby, and to give the structure a light and airy feeling. The same design will be used at the future downtown Portland (Ore.) and city-center Aix-au-Provence (France) retail stores. Demolition is underway now for both of those stores, while the Stanford 2 store could open by year’s end. View an entire gallery of the revealing photos from inside the plastic-covered, 11-foot construction fencing.

This store design was completed in 2011 by Apple’s long-time architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. It was approved by Steve Jobs about six months before Tim Cook assumed the position of CEO in August of that year. Mr. Jobs died in October 2011. It took another year to refine the design and obtain building approvals. Demolition on the former building began late last year.

Nearly the entire 90-foot wide glass storefront of the future Apple store is visible in this photo. The structural steel at the top will support the visually “floating” roof.

The entire front portion of the store is faced with glass. Behind this “box” will be a stone-faced box housing additional public retail space and the back-of-house areas.

This is the normal view of the Stanford 2 store under construction at the west end of the mall.

A gray-colored partition has appeared down the length of the Los Gatos (N. Calif.) retail store, dividing the store in half while workers install a new style of stone flooring. The partition appeared this week, and tipsters say the entrance will soon flip around when floor construction moves to the other half of the space. A sign on the partition inside the temporary 15-foot wide store asks customers to, “pardon our appearance while we improve our store.” Those who have seen the construction work say it involves the 76 cm x 76 cm Italian stone floor tiles that have become standard for all Apple stores. Apparently those tiles are being replaced with a new flooring system that uses larger tiles, and with material that may not be actual stone. The newly-opened Kurfürstendamm (Berlin) retail store features 5-foot by 15-foot panels that have a “wavy” surface, instead of being completely flat. Apple has previously tested synthetic floor systems, most notably for the six mini-stores that opened in 2004, and more recently at the Del Monte (N. Calif.) store. In both cases, the synthetic material was replaced after aesthetic and maintenance problems developed. It’s not clear why the Los Gatos tiles are being replaced, or if this is a test store for more widespread flooring changes.

Only one-half of the store is open for public retail while work us underway in the other half. The sign to the right says, “Please pardon our appearance while we improve our store.” Click the photo for a larger view.

This photo shows the flooring in the new Kurfürstendamm (Berlin) Apple store. In the shiny area to the right, you can see that the floor is not perfectly flat, unlike the 76 cm stone tiles used in most stores. Instead, it has an obvious “wavy” appearance.

The flooring in the Kurfürstendamm Apple store is sectioned into 5-foot by 15-foot panels, instead of 76 cm squares. This size allows the product display tables to be centered within each floor section, as shown here.

By month’s end, the quaint wood floors and frosted-glass dividers of the Fashion Show (Las Vegas) Apple store will disappear, replaced with a temporary store on the upper level during a massive expansion that will nearly triple the store’s square-footage. When the work in completed in September, the expanded store will open with a 117-foot wide storefront, ready to accommodate some of the mall’s 13 million annual visitors. The expansion is part of an-going project to increase the space of older, smaller stores that are crowded with visitors. Apple CEO has previously said the company will expand about 20 stores in the U.S. this fiscal year. The Fashion Show location opened in November 2002 as the 46th store in the chain, in the mall north of the Strip’s major hotels and casinos. The store itself is located right in front of the mall’s key feature, a lighted stage where live fashion shows are held Friday through Sunday. The 30-foot wide store has long been woefully tiny for the crowds of tourists and locals who visit. According to real estate sources, the current 3,900 square-foot store on the ground floor will close by the end of June, and move to the former J. Jill space on the upper level. That 4,713 square-foot space will operate for three months during construction to combine the former Steve Madden and Tommy Bahama spaces with the original Apple store. The final space will span just over 10,000 square-feet, with a its wide storefront overlooking the mall’s main interior courtyard.

By July 2013 the original Fashion Show store (red) will move to a temporary store (yellow) on the upper level of the mall while the original store is expanded into two adjacent spaces (blue). The final store will cover over 10,000 s.f. in three spaces.

A black construction barricade hides the interior of the temporary Apple store on the upper level of the mall. This store could open by July 1st, and will reportedly be open for three months during expansion construction.

Tipsters have dug out the exact locations of two future Apple retail stores, after vague job listings were posted last month for stores in Virginia and Utah. The locations are in addition to a future store previously identified in New Jersey, close to Princeton University. The three stores will be among fewer than 10 new stores opening in the United States during fiscal 2013. Most of the 40 new stores announced for this year will be located outside the United States, company officials have said. The two newest job listings appeared May 21st on Apple’s Web site. The first was listed as “Salt Lake City,” although tipsters say it’s really located in the northern suburb of Farmington, at the Station Park shopping mall alongside Interstate 15. Besides retail space, the development includes a hotel, multi-screen cinema and several restaurants. The second job listing was posted as “Manassas, Virginia.” In fact, the store will be in the city of Woodbridge, at the new Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center mall. The developer is still adding tenants to the mall, but so far has signed Wegman’s grocery, REI and several other upscale retailers. The third store identified earlier will be located at the Quaker Bridge Mall, about five miles from the campus of Princeton University (NJ). A black construction barricade is already up at the mall, next to the Ann Taylor store. Based on the timing of the job postings, all three stores will open before November.

In past years, Apple’s job listings included not only the city and state of the future store, but the name of the shopping mall or street where the store would be located. About a year ago, the listings no longer listed the shopping mall, and sometime not even the city of the future store. That change has meant that it takes more digging from more sources to determine the actual location of future stores.

For both of these job listings, the listed city is not the actual store location, but is a city nearby. It’s not clear if Apple is purposely using this technique to obscure the actual locations of its future stores, or if the job listing locations are intended as regions.

The future Apple store at Station Park will reportedly be next to the H&M store that opened last month. If so, the space covers about 10,000 square-feet.

Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center is an outdoor mall that is still adding new tenants. The location of the future Apple store within the mall isn’t known.

During Congressional hearings this week to explore ways of collecting taxes on offshore U.S. corporate profits, the U.S. Senators shined a little bit of light on how Apple’s retail operations have roots in Ireland. The information was contained in reports prepared by the Senate’s Subcommittee on Investigations, ahead of public hearings that included testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple is one among scores of multi-national companies that have significant offshore cash holdings. However, the subcommittee made a case study of Apple’s finances because of its enormous cash holdings and high-profile status. The Senators are hoping Apple’s example helps spark reform of U.S. and international tax laws, leading to increased tax revenues. Significantly, neither the Senate or any law enforcement agency has claimed or implied that Apple has done anything illegal in keeping its foreign revenues offshore. Essentially, Apple’s retail stores outside the U.S. purchase their products wholesale from a separate Apple entity headquartered in Cork (Ireland), which then logs a profit on the sales. Because of its tax status in Ireland, this company pays either very little or no taxes on those profits. In fact, according to the Congressional report, the Irish company paid no taxes on $44 billion of its earned income during 2009 to 2012. During the public hearings, Cook pointed out that Apple’s international accounting is routine. He also renewed his call that Congress lower the current 35 percent corporate tax rate to encourage companies to repatriate foreign revenues back to the United States.

In a 40-page report prepared for the subcommittee, staffers said that Apple’s organizational structure and the U.S. tax code allow the company to “shift and keep billions in profits offshore in two controlled foreign corporations formed in Ireland.”

The first entity is Apple Sales International (ASI), an entity that Apple has used “to shift billions in profits away from the United States to Ireland, where it pays a corporate tax rate of 2% or less.”

The second entity is Apple Operations International (AOI), “a 30-year old corporation that has no employees or physical presence, and whose operations are managed and controlled out of the United States.” The report said that AOI received $30 billion in earnings and profits from 2009 through 2011, but “has no declared tax residency anywhere in the world and, as a consequence, has not paid corporate income tax to any national government for the past 5 years.”

The report explained that ASI purchases finished Apple goods manufactured in China, and then immediately resells them to Apple Distribution International (ADI), which, in turn, sells the goods to retail stores and distributors (Asian markets are served by Apple Singapore instead of ADI). “ASI did not conduct any of the manufacturing—and added nothing—in Ireland to the finished Apple products it bought,” the report said. Yet, ASI, “booked a substantial profit in Ireland when it resold those products to related parties such as ADI or Apple Singapore.”

The subcommittee report made the point that, “ASI never took physical possession of the products it ordered from the third party manufacturer. Transfer was made in title only while the products were being shipped to the country of sale.”

Transferring title in this manner, “allowed Apple to retain most of its profits in Ireland, where it has negotiated a favorable tax rate and maintains entities claiming to have no tax residence in any country, and limit the income it reported in the non-tax haven countries where the company did most of its business.”

The report gave one example: In 2011, Apple reported $34 billion in income before taxes. However, just $150 million of those profits, less than one percent, were recorded for Apple’s Japanese subsidiaries, “even though Japan is one of Apple’s strongest foreign markets,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the report said, ASI reported $22 billion in 2011 net income. “Those figures indicate that Apple’s Japanese profits were being shifted away from the United States to Ireland, where Apple had negotiated a minimal tax rate and maintained two non-tax resident corporations.”

Download (pdf) the full report or just the 40-page report summary.

The chart from the Congressional report shows how the various subsidiaries interact in the various countries where Apple does business, including the retail stores. Notice the “Belgium” entry—the country does not yet have retail stores. Also notice that Sweden is missing from the chart—there are two stores in that country. Click on the chart for a larger view.

This chart was prepared by Apple at the subcommittee’s request to show how the various company entities interact. Click on the chart for a larger view.

Faced with an additional four years of underground transit tunnel construction in front of the San Francisco (N. Calif.) Apple store, and feeling the general crush of increased store visitors, the company will move retail operations two blocks away, into a stunning two-level, glass storefront location facing the city’s main square. Significantly, the plans were announced by SF mayor Ed Lee, who said he hopes the new store would help reverse waning retail activity in the area. Lee did not say if the city had offered Apple any incentives or permit accommodations to make the move. At a stand-up event inside the current nearby Apple store on Thursday, Lee told reporters the relocated store would have 45 percent more space and 50 more employees than the existing store that opened in February 2004. That store occupies about 10,800 square-feet within a building faced with stainless steel. The store has no interior or exterior visibility, since there are no windows and only one narrow skylight. A single-run glass staircase connects the ground-floor and second level. The relocated store will feature a towering glass storefront, allowing total visibility for both passersby and visitors. The glass consists of 11 panels that are about 40-feet tall. A wide glass staircase on both sides of the store provides access to the upper level. The rear wall of the store appears to be semi-transparent, allowing a view of the adjacent hotel plaza. A relatively small white Apple logo is suspended at the top-center of the storefront. The existing flagship Levi’s store occupies only a partial, triangular portion of the parcel, and the remaining space is a public, red-brick plaza. According to Apple’s rendering, the store will occupy the southern portion of the parcel, and there is open space visible to the north. Although mayor Lee confirmed the project to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, he did not provide a timeline for the move. Update: Within a week, mayor Lee acknowledged Apple’s plan would include removing a long-time and allegedly popular fountain on the rear hotel plaza. Newspaper urban design critic John King also revealed that the architects for the project are Foster + Partners.

The existing Levi’s building at 300 Post Street has been the clothing retailer’s flagship location since August 1999. The company was founded in San Francisco in 1853. The store is soon moving to a temporary location during construction of a new flagship in the same neighborhood. The 300 Post Street property has been on the market since October 2012.

The corner parcel is 132 feet wide and 140 feet deep and overlooks Union Square, the historic center of the city. The Levi’s store occupies about one-half of the space, or about 9,240 square-feet. The remaining 9,240 square-feet is an red-brick plaza associated with the Grand Hyatt Hotel on the north side of the block.

Based on the rendering supplied by Apple, the store will occupy up to almost 25,000 square-feet, although about one-third of that space would be back-of-house space. A rendering of the rear of the store shows a public entrance, a plaza with trees, flowers and other greenery, and a wall-type waterfall.

Apple’s existing store on Stockton Street at Market Street was created when the company bought out the remaining lease of cosmetics retailer Sephora in 2003. Apple then demolished the building and constructed a new three-level structure. That same scenario is expected to occur for the relocated store.

The store’s grand opening was attended by the current and former mayors of the city, and hailed as helping to bring an increased retail presence to the area. Since then store traffic has increased, and several renovations have occurred, including the removal of the original second-level presentation theater last year. Most recently, the city began construction on an underground transmit tunnel, requiring barricades, no parking zones and other pedestrian obstructions in front of the store. The construction is scheduled to continue through 2017.

Watch a short video promotion for the 300 Post Street property.

The announcement was formally made by mayor Lee and Apple’s’ Bob Bridger, VP of retail real estate and development. Here is mayor Lee’s prepared statement about the future store:

Today Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu announced plans for a new Apple Retail store on Union Square, to be located at 300 Post Street. The new store will employ nearly 400 employees, about 50 more than today, and will offer Apple’s same popular services such as the Genius Bar, Personal Training and free workshops. This store joins two other stores in the City—Chestnut and Stonestown—and will be 45 percent larger than the existing Apple Store at 1 Stockton Street.

“Apple’s new store is quite simply incredible,” said Mayor Lee. “San Francisco is the Innovation Capital of the World, and I can think of no better location for the world’s most stunning Apple Store than right here in Union Square. I want to thank Apple for their investment in this City and continued commitment to growing jobs in San Francisco.”

Significantly, the current Apple store grand opening was attended by two mayors and Steve Jobs, all celebrating the store’s location along the border of an area the city was attempting to revitalize at the time. The new proposed store is similarly being promoted as a way to bring new life to the Union Square retail scene.

“I’m excited that the company that revolutionized consumer technologies is moving to the heart of Union Square,” said supervisor Chiu. “The new Apple store will highlight technology and design innovation as well as build community at the center of our City’s retail district.”

The application and materials for the proposed new store were formally filed at the San Francisco Planning Department. The site is currently occupied by a Levi’s store, which is anticipated to relocate later this year.

This city assessor’s map of the block shows the current Levi’s retail store building in red on parcel #16. The blue lines outline the anticipated location of the Apple retail store, with the rear wall (dotted line) at 60 feet, although the wall could be located further north. The remainder of the parcel to the north is the Grand Hyatt Hotel building and the its triangular entrance plaza. Click on the graphic for a larger view.

Apple is making a second proposal to the city of Miami Beach (Fla.) to build an expanded store along the Lincoln Road pedestrian shopping mall, after being denied permission to demolish and rebuild in 2011. The new project is next door to the previous proposal, which eventually became a Gap clothing store, and just 1,000 feet from the existing Apple store that opened in July 2006. Like most early stores, the original store was built on a 30-foot wide model that covers 3,000 square-feet, and has become increasingly crowded with visitors. As part of a general plan of expanding smaller stores, in 2011 Apple proposed to demolish and rebuild the building at 1001 Lincoln Road, using a version of the Upper West Side (NYC) architecture. However, the city planning commission objected to the complete demolition of what it considered to be an historic structure, and eventually Gap built on the site. Now Apple has made a second expansion proposal for 1021-1025 Lincoln Road, a 60-foot wide space occupied by three retailers. According to the June 11th agenda (pdf) for the city’s Historic Preservation Board, the current structure would be demolished, and replaced with a two-level Apple store totaling nearly 10,000 square-feet. The 1932-era building is considered “contributing” to the historic Lincoln Road district, and is listed in the Miami Beach Historic Properties database. It was renovated most-recently in 2000 and 2004, perhaps reducing its historical significance and the potential for demolition objections by the city’s board. Based on the approval process timeline and construction schedules, the expanded store would open in 2014.

Three retailers (Johnny Rockets, Quiksilver Boardriders Club, Sunglass Hut) now occupy the 61-foot x 75-foot parcel along Lincoln Road proposed for an Apple store expansion. The large, 20,000 square-foot space to the east is occupied by a Gap store, which is where Apple originally proposed an expansion in 2011.

The workload of Apple retail store Genius Bars is scheduled for a huge increase later this year, after the company introduces a revamped AppleCare product that includes a longer list of iPhone, iPad and iPod problems that will repaired in-house. The changes will reportedly save the company $1 billion a year, but could also significantly lower customer satisfaction with time-consuming repairs, instead of being handled in five minutes with a swap-out. According to AppleInsider, Apple vice president Tara Bunch announced today to employees that in-store repairs will be expanded to include display replacement, sleep/wake buttons and logic boards. Previously, repairs were only made for problems with speakers, receivers, home buttons, the vibrator motor and battery. The tipster did not report that Bunch announced additional Genius Bar staffing to accommodate the increased workload of repairs. According to AppleInsider’s tipster, the current AppleCare model will also change from product-based to customer-based, and free after-sales product support will be extended for a longer period. Apple’s Genius Bars are a significant link in the chain of customer satisfaction, along with the ability of iPhones, iPads and iPods to be restored from a computer-based back-up. In fact, the Genius Bar is the destination of over 25 percent of store visitors, who highly value the ability to simply swap-out a defective iProduct under warranty with a remanufactured one. Under the proposed plan, customers will have to wait some period of time for their iProduct to be repaired, but it’s not clear if that period will be several hours or overnight.

After weeks of financial analyst pessimism about Apple’s product sales and a resulting plunge in its stock price, the company announced record unit sales and revenues during the second quarter of 2013, and teased new product categories in the future. The retail stores participated fully in the sales success, with record second-quarter sales of $5.24 billion, also the third-highest revenue in the chain’s history. Retail store profit was $1.1 billion, exactly the same as the year-ago quarter, but still considered strong. Without explanation, the company said fewer new stores will open this year, part of an on-going decline from a peak of 50 in fiscal 2008. Total revenue for the company was $43.0 billion, a new record for any second quarter of the company’s history. Sales of the iPad set a new quarterly record at 19.5 million units, and iPhone sales reached 37.4 million units, also a record. Significantly, during a period of slumping sales in the personal computer industry, Apple sold almost four million Mac computers, down just two percent from the previous quarter. During a conference call, CFO Peter Oppenheimer told financials analysts that IDC had pegged the PC market decline 14 percent during the same period.

China total sales set a new record of $8.8 billion, including at the retail stores, and CEO Tim Cook called the country a “tremendous opportunity.” As a result, Cook said the company will double the number of its retail stores in China over the next two years. His remark was the second such forecast the company has issued for the China market. At the September 2010 stockholders meeting, then-Sr. VP Retail Ron Johnson said the company wanted to open 25 stores in China “over the next two years.” At the time, there were four stores open in the country. Since then, only four additional stores have opened, leaving the company far short of Johnson’s goal.

For the first time this fiscal year, Oppenheimer announced that Apple will open “about 30″ new retail stores during fiscal 2013, a continuation of a trend of fewer stores-per-year since 2010. New store openings hit a peak of 50 in fiscal 2008, declined to 26 the next year, but climbed to 45 in 2010. The number has been declining ever since. Oppenheimer did not say how many of the new stores would be outside the United States, a figure that he has commonly given during previous conference calls. He did not mention any imminent new store openings, including the just-announced DIX30 (Canada) and Highpoint (Australia) stores.

Oppenheimer said the company would remodel 20 stores during the fiscal year, but did not say where they are located. Those stores will most certainly be within the United States, and involve existing early stores that are too small for current customer service operations. As proof of that, Oppenheimer said there were 91 million visitors to the retail stores during the quarter, a new Q2 record.

Cook told the financial analysts of “potential new categories” of products, but declined to say how soon they might be released.

View the charts and graphs for a comparison to previous quarters.

The number of stores hit a peak in fiscal 2008, and then took a hit in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis that swept the United States. Apple says they will open about 30 new stores during fiscal 2013.