Apple Closing All Louisiana Stores, 77 Nationwide
If you were planning on visiting one of the 2 Apple retail stores in Louisiana, you better leave now. If you were planning on taking your device there for service, you might want to look at some online options. The hardware/software/lifestyle(?) behemoth announced that they would be shutting down 77 stores across the U.S. in response to the resurgence of COVID-19 infection numbers across the country.
As the nation is left reeling by the largest spike in cases to date, more and more businesses are closing down - some for the second time. Even the largest corporations are not only feeling the pinch of near-zero foot traffic (and in most cases, restrictions barring it outright), but the possible added liability of having the disease transmitted on your premises.
The Apple devotees at Macrumors.com are reporting that these 77 stores in California, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, and Oklahoma will be closing today or tomorrow - that includes the locations in Baton Rouge and Metairie, Louisiana. Anyone who has their device in for repair currently, or is awaiting a site-to-store pickup will reportedly be able to pick their property up as late as July 3rd.
According to the report, this is the 5th round of reclosures for the tech giant, whose plan to shut some, not all, doors across the country launched 2 weeks ago with locations in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In all of the sites that remain open, measures have been put in place to protect employees and customers, like mandatory face masks, temperature checks, near-constant cleaning, and in some cases - curbside service and pickup only.
No information about when these stores will try to reopen was given.