Over the weekend, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that all stores outside of Greater China would be closed till March 27.
With declining numbers of cases in China, the company has reopened stores there. As the pandemic sweeps the rest of the globe, however, the company made the decision to close all stores outside of Greater China.
“We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27,” writes Cook. “We are committed to providing exceptional service to our customers. Our online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com. I want to thank our extraordinary Retail teams for their dedication to enriching our customers’ lives. We are all so grateful to you.”
As the situation continues to unfold, however, it seems the stores may be closed beyond March 27. BGR was the first to notice that a banner on Apple.com says: “Our retail stores are closed until further notice.”
Fortunately for employees, Apple is taking measures to make sure their financial needs are met.
“All of our hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations,” continues Cook. “We have expanded our leave policies to accommodate personal or family health circumstances created by COVID-19 — including recovering from an illness, caring for a sick loved one, mandatory quarantining, or childcare challenges due to school closures.”