Apple is ready to open its next retail store, right in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Three years ago, Apple announced plans to move its flagship retail store in San Francisco a few blocks over to a larger space in the city's high-end shopping district. That new space—at Stockton and Post streets in Union Square—replaces the existing 12-year-old store at Stockton and Ellis streets.
Today, Cupertino showed off the final product to a few journalists ahead of Saturday's grand opening. The signature feature at the Union Square location is a 42-foot-tall sliding glass door, a video of which Curbed SF tweeted earlier today.
Massive sliding glass doors opening, press preview of global flagship Apple Store in Union Square, SF. ???? #curbed pic.twitter.com/JIzz6iOgeA — Brock Keeling (@BrockKeeling) May 19, 2016
"It all starts with the storefront — taking transparency to a whole new level —where the building blends the inside and the outside, breaking down barriers and making it more egalitarian and accessible," Apple's chief design officer, Jony Ive, said in a statement.
The new store is powered by 100 percent renewable energy, according to Apple, "including power produced by photovoltaic panels integrated into the building's roof." An outdoor plaza, open 24 hours a day, will offer public Wi-Fi and seating, and feature occasional performances. From the plaza, you can see the 6K Video Wall inside the store, which will feature clips of artists, photographers, musicians, gamers, developers, and entrepreneurs.
"Fifteen years ago today Apple opened its first two stores and we're thrilled to mark the occasion with the opening of Apple Union Square in San Francisco," said Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. "We are not just evolving our store design, but its purpose and greater role in the community as we educate and entertain visitors and serve our network of local entrepreneurs."
Among the new features coming to the Union Square store are "The Boardroom," where Apple will provide "advice and training to entrepreneurs, developers, and other small and medium business customers." The store also swaps the Genius Bar for a Genius Grove, where customers work "side-by-side with Geniuses under the comfortable canopy of local trees in the heart of the store."
The store opens to the public at 10 a.m. this Saturday.