Apple revealed that it will be having a grand opening on April 10 for three dedicated Apple Watch shops in London, Paris and Tokyo.
The Apple Watch shops will be located within high-end department stories in the iconic cities, with the exact locations being Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Isetan in Tokyo.
The Apple Watch shops that will be set up will only seem to be focused on allowing potential customers to view and purchase the smartwatches. For support requirements and questions, customers will be directed to Apple retail shops.
The Apple Watch shop in Selfridges will be located within the proximity of the entrance of the Wonder Room, where stores of several other luxury watch and jewelry brands are located. It was reported that Apple has been transferring employees from other retail locations within London to serve as employees in the Apple Watch shop to be put up.
The Apple Watch shop in the Galeries Lafayete, on the other hand, is expected to cover four sections of the structure's balcony, which would be overlooking the department store's main rotunda. The store in Tokyo will specifically be located in Isetan Shinjuku.
The in-store previews for the Apple Watch and pre-orders for the device will launch on April 10, with the formal launch in the first batch of countries after a couple of weeks.
The Apple Watch Edition, the high-end, gold-plated luxury watch model of the smartwatch, will only be made available in certain Apple retail outlets, with the three aforementioned luxurious locations highly likely to house the smartwatches that can reach prices of up to $17,000 each. In comparison, the entry-level model of the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Sport, will have prices that begin at $349.
A previous report stated that interested customers can set appointments to sample the Apple Watch, which will last up to 15 minutes. However, for interested buyers of the Apple Watch Edition, the appointment time is stretched to 30 minutes.
In preparation for the release of the Apple Watch on April 24, it has been reported that employees of Apple retail stores are being trained to hand out advice on fashion and style to interested customers.
The unusual marketing gimmick will have the Apple Store employees act as fashion and style advisers as compared to the traditional salespeople that are only looking to sell the Apple Watch, which would be a major shift in mentality for both the employees and customers.
