Apple Inc will this week reopen more than 25 of its branded stores in the United States, a company spokesman said on Sunday, continuing a gradual process that has unlocked doors at nearly a fifth of its worldwide retail outlets.
The iPhone maker in March shut all its stores outside of Greater China in response to the spread of the coronavirus. It started shutting its China stores in January and reopened them by mid-March.
"Our commitment is to reopen our stores when we are confident the environment is safe," Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's head of retail, wrote on Sunday in a note on the company's website.
The stores will impose social-distancing rules, limit occupancy and some will offer only curbside or storefront service, she said.
Last week, Apple reopened its first five stores in the United States, requiring customers and employees to undergo temperature checks and wear masks before entering the premises.
Apple has 510 stores worldwide and 271 in the United States. The website 9to5Mac reported that the company would reopen 10 of its stores in Italy beginning on Tuesday.
Agence France-Presse
