Apple Store

2020

Looters plundered Apple Store in the United States

At the end of May 2020, amid street unrest in the United States, looters began robbing stores of well-known brands, including Apple. The removal of equipment from the Apple Store was captured by journalists' cameras.

Looters on the streets of the United States rob Apple stores

According to 9to5Mac, Apple's Minneapolis store was looted, forcing the company to close it and several other outlets located in cities where riots are taking place. The same cases of looting against the Apple Store occurred in a number of other American cities.

Worried about the health and safety of our teams, we decided to keep a number of our stores in the United States closed on Sunday, Apple said.

Looters in a hurry took out from Apple stores all the devices they could get to. True, it is impossible to use the stolen devices, at least for their intended purpose. The fact is that four years ago Apple introduced a new complex of protection for window samples, just the technique that is exhibited in stores and which is relatively easy to steal.

As soon as such a phone is disconnected from the Wi-Fi network, it is immediately blocked and without entering the data that only store employees have, it will no longer work. The same thing happens with tablets and laptops.

Apple sent messages to the stolen devices demanding the return of equipment to stores.

Please return to Apple Walnut Street. The device has been disconnected and is being monitored. Local government officials will be notified, - it is written in one of these messages.

A wave of unrest swept the United States after the death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd as a result of tough police detention in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Four law enforcement officers knocked an unarmed man to the ground, and one of them, a white policeman, stepped on his neck with his knee. At the same time, the detainee complained about the inability to breathe, after which he lost consciousness. He later died in intensive care from asphyxia.^[1]

Apple store closures around the world except China during COVID-19 pandemic

In mid-March 2020, Apple announced the closure of all its stores in the world, except those located in China. With these measures, the American company hopes to minimize the risks of the spread of the new coronavirus.

Apple branded stores will be closed until March 27, 2020. At the same time, on March 13, the company reopened all of its 42 outlets in China after the number of new cases of coronavirus infection decreased in the country.

Apple announced the closure of all its stores in the world, except those located in China

The most effective way to minimize the risk of virus transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance. As the number of new cases of infection continues to grow elsewhere, we are taking additional measures to protect our team members and customers, said Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose words are quoted on the company's website.

He also said that Apple is moving to organizing remote work around the world. This applies to those employees whose work can be remote. As for other employees, they will be present on the ground, but must follow instructions to maximize interpersonal space. The protocol for deep cleaning and disinfection of premises will continue to be implemented in all Apple offices. The company is also introducing new health checks and measurements of people's temperatures everywhere, Tim Cook emphasized.

All our hourly workers will continue to be paid as normal. We have expanded our vacation policy in accordance with personal or family circumstances created as a result of the spread of COVID-19, including recovery from illness, care for sick loved ones, mandatory quarantine or the need to care for a child due to the closure of a school or kindergarten, he added.[2]

Closing all Apple Stores in China

In early February 2020, Apple closed all its official stores on the mainland, China that is, in fact, throughout the country. The reason is the spread. coronavirus

The company's official Chinese website, when trying to find store addresses, issues a warning that they are closed "due to   the public health situation and preventive measures." In addition to stores, Apple has closed all its corporate offices and call centers in China.

Apple Store in Hangzhou

By the beginning of February 2020, Apple has 42 stores in China (with the exception of Hong Kong and Macau), follows from the information on the company's website. At the same time, Apple's online store in China is still available and operating as usual.

Out of caution, and based on the advice of health experts, we are closing our stores in mainland China until February 9th. We will continue to monitor the development of the situation and look forward to the early opening of our stores, Apple said in a statement.

Due to the spread of the dangerous disease, Apple banned business trips to China for its employees, and in the revenue forecast indicated a wider than usual range due to uncertainty around the virus, Bloomberg notes . The company intends to clean stores more often and thoroughly and check the temperature of consultants, the news agency reports.

Earlier, Apple closed three stores in the Chinese cities of Qingdao, Nanjing and Fuzhou, and, according to Kommersant,  together with other smartphone manufacturers, postponed supplies from China to Russia for two weeks, as Chinese factories extended the New Year holidays due to the outbreak of the virus.

According to the data, Bloomberg Apple may have problems with the release of new phones - the two largest factories where they assemble smartphones iPhone are located about 500 km from the city of Wuhan (the focus of the spread of coronavirus).^[3]

2019: Bugs start up in New York's flagship Apple Store

In mid-April 2019, it became known that bedbugs started up in the main Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York. One of the employees explained that the problem with insects appeared at the end of March, when night attendants had to "cordon off" a table on the second floor.

The bugs are believed to have entered the convenience store from homeless visitors who often show up there at night. Although bed bugs are not able to jump, they crawl from one owner to another when using common things and take root equally well in almost any room, regardless of their sanitary condition.

For several weeks, management hid the problem from employees and buyers until another bug was found in the manager's office. This find caused a real panic among employees who were afraid that they could bring bedbugs home. At the same time, they were outraged by the negligent attitude of the leadership and noted that they could no longer trust him.

Bugs started in Apple's flagship store in New York

Employees were ordered to put items in double plastic packaging, and management called in Orkin, a dedicated insect pest control service. It turned out that the bugs settled in two lockers for personal belongings of the staff. However, despite the assurances of the responsible persons, the problem was not eliminated - a week and a half later, one of the store employees found a bug crawling on a sweater and filmed it. The video was sent to hundreds of Apple employees, so management had no choice but to call the disinfector specialist again.

Apple did not warn customers about the infection, only during disinfection the store did not work under the pretext of a "water leak." Apple representatives declined to comment.^[4]

2018: An iPhone and a MacBook worth $27,000 were stolen in 30 seconds from the Apple Store

In July 2018, one of the Apple Store retail stores was robbed. The criminals took about 30 seconds to steal 26 MacBook laptops and. smartphones iPhone The amount of damage is estimated at about $27 thousand.

On July 7, 2018, four young people ran into an Apple company store at Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno, California. In front of numerous visitors and employees, the criminals quickly took laptops and phones from the demonstration tables, tearing equipment from the power cables. One of the buyers, an outwardly strong man, tried to stop them, but he did not work out. The people standing around did not even have time to understand anything.

Several iPhones, including the iPhone  6,iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and even the new iPhone X, were stolen in this major robbery, said local police lieutenant Mark Hudson . 'One customer stood at the exit to stop them leaving but was pushed aside.

CCTV cameras recorded the incident. The video shows that the thieves were wearing sweatpants and hoodie hoodies that hid their faces.

Police are looking for four or five black youths between the ages of 16 and 18. Presumably, their accomplice was waiting for the criminals near the store in a car in which the attackers fled. It is noted that the thieves did not have weapons with them, and the crime was well planned.

Daring robbery of Apple store by teenagers caught on video

Law enforcement agencies suggest that the theft could have been committed by the same gang that robbed the Apple Store in San Luis Obispo (California) in June 2018. Then the kidnappers also carried out computer equipment, located on the shelves of the outlet, for several thousand dollars.^[5]

Notes