Apple (AAPL +0.94%) will begin to reopen some of its U.S. stores next week, the company announced Friday. The tech giant has had most of its non-China stores closed for months amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with most of states initiating at least partially reopening, Apple will begin its transition back to normal store operations.
At about the time Apple reopened its stores in China in mid-March, the company closed most of its stores outside of the People's Republic. Apple made this decision as the coronavirus pandemic led to lockdowns across the world. Now, it seeks to bounce back from what Tim Cook calls the "most challenging global environment" that the company has encountered.
The reopening will only affect a few customers initially. For now, Apple stores will only open their doors in Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, and South Carolina.
The tech giant also announced that staff would perform temperature checks and only allow a limited number of customers in its stores at any one time.
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It's worth nothing that this announcement only covers six of Apple's more than 270 retail stores in the U.S. Apple also did not verify that all six of the stores would open. For now, only the Boise, Idaho, location has confirmed it will be reopening. That location will begin operations on Monday.
In addition, the company has not announced its plans for stores in other states that have partially reopened. Apple continues to examine both city and county health data in other areas where it operates stores and will use this data to decide when to reopen.
