CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple Computer Inc. will open its first retail store May 19 in McLean, Va. — the first of what is expected to become a chain of Apple outlets.
Until its media invitation Monday announcing the grand opening, the Cupertino-based personal computer maker had refused to confirm reports that it planned to open its own stores. News reports have instead relied on city sources, including Apple’s pending application to build a store in downtown Palo Alto.
Apple currently relies mainly on resellers, large electronics retailers and its own Web site to sell its products.
The McLean store will be in Tysons Corner, one of two large business centers in a city that has been attracting more high-tech businesses. Tysons Corner has the highest concentration of high-technology employers of any other location in Fairfax County, according to the city’s Web site.
The city, part of Washington D.C.’s greater metropolitan area, is also home to several federal government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency.
Chris Le Tocq, an analyst at Guernsey Research, thinks Apple may be going after the government market, in part by getting more federal employees to use their products.
Unlike Gateway Inc., which has about 300 stores throughout the United States, Le Tocq said “Apple is being more targeted here, going for areas where it feels it is not getting its fair shake.”
In trading Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Apple fell 79 cents a share to close at $24.96. In extended trading, shares gained 26 cents to end at $25.22.
