Apple temporarily closing all stores outside China
In response to the global coronavirus threat, Apple will temporarily close hundreds of stores in more than 20 countries to protect the health of employees and customers.
It’s the largest such move by a retailer since the crisis began.
CEO Tim Cook made the announcement just before midnight Friday, tweeting: “In our workplaces and communities, we must do all we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Apple will be temporarily closing all stores outside of Greater China until March 27 and committing $15M to help with worldwide recovery.”
He said Apple stores in China that had been closed during the early phase of the outbreak there are now reopening.
The company remains committed to “providing exceptional service to our customers” via online sales and support services. Customers who want to purchase Apple products can go to apple.com or download the Apple Store app, he said. Those who need help troubleshooting issues with their products should visit support.apple.com.
The Cupertino-based tech giant’s largest concentration of stores is in its home state of California,
which has 53. Globally, there are stores from Australia to the United Arab Emirates.
Cook opened his statement with a thank you to Apple employees and suppliers in China, which is one of the company’s biggest markets both for selling its products and making devices like iphones and ipads.
“Though the rate of infections has dramatically declined, we know COVID-19’S effects are still being strongly felt,” Cook wrote. “I want to express my deep gratitude to our team in China for their determination and spirit. As of today, all of our stores in Greater China have reopened. I also want to thank our operations team and partners for their remarkable efforts to restore our supply chain. What we’ve learned together has helped us all develop the best practices that are assisting enormously in our global response.”
Those practices, he said, provided the impetus for putting the retail stores on hiatus.
“One of those lessons is that the most effective way to minimize risk of the virus’s transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance. As rates of new infections continue to grow in other places, we’re taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers.”
During the shutdown, Cook added, “All of our hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations.”
Apple’s other leave policies have been expanded to assist employees recovering from illness themselves, caring for sick relatives, facing mandatory quarantine or dealing with child care challenges created by school closures.
The amount the company has pledged for relief has reached $15 million, Cook said. Those monies are earmarked to “help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic.”
Any employee donations will be matched two-to-one.