Quote:In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many non-essential retail locations were forced to shut down in order to help contain the spread of the virus. Apple was one such company, having closed all of its stores outside of Greater China back in March, but it could be set to re-open some of them as early as next month, according to a report from Bloomberg.
 
The information reportedly comes from Apple's video president of retail and people, Deirdre O'Brien, who said she expects "many more" of its stores to open again in May. This was shared in a weekly update video seen by Apple retail employees.
 
Shortly after it closed down its stores, a similar report stated that Apple was hoping to open some of its stores in April. That only materialized in South Korea, where the Seoul store opened back up a couple of weeks ago, with a focus on the Genius Bar and repair services rather than sales. Visitors to the store have shared pictures showing that the store is performing temperature checks on customers before they are allowed inside.
 
The report doesn't specifically say which Apple stores would be re-opening next, but some countries around the world, and some states in the U.S., are getting ready to ease some of the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. It would make sense for the company to start there.