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| Apple's vintage logo |
Cupertino, California-based Apple (NYSE: AAPL) is coming to Cumberland Mall in Cobb County.
Rumored for months, Apple will soon open a new location on the first level, "Zone E," of the General Growth Properties-owned (GGP) mall, according to well-placed sources.
The new Apple store replaces a number of smaller stores near center court, directly below the Best Buy Mobile store. The new Apple store will reportedly be about 7,300 square feet, making it the second largest in Georgia, just behind Lenox Square, which is 8,100 square feet.
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| The new Apple store should provide visibility / signage from two sides |
Cumberland Mall has been through its fair share of changes over the years. The mall opened in August, 1973 and was originally anchored by J.C. Penney, Davison's, Sears and Rich's. J.C. Penney was demolished in 2005 to make way for Costco, which opened in 2006 in place of the department store, but not attached to the mall. Davison's became Macy's in 1986 and after the merger with Rich's, the store was closed in 2003. The vacant department store was demolished for an outdoor "lifestyle area" which today is home to The Cheesecake Factory, Ted's Montana Grill and Maggiano's Little Italy, among others. The Rich's store was for a time branded as "Rich's-Macy's" but the store was rebranded as simply "Macy's" in 2005. Sears was then, and remains today, the mall's other anchor.
Apple's other Atlanta area stores are at Mall of Georgia in Buford, North Point Mall in Alpharetta, and Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. In addition to Cumberland, North Point and Perimeter are all owned and manage`d by General Growth Properties, while Lenox Square and Mall of Georgia are owned and managed by Simon Property Group.
Reportedly originally scheduled to open in late July, the new Apple store is now on track for a "mid-to-late fall opening," surely in advance of the start of holiday shopping.
Cumberland Mall has seen the addition of a number of retailers over the past year or so including Clarks, Sephora, Teavana, and House of Hoops, the basketball-centric store from Foot Locker. Others like Torrid and Buckle are coming soon.
Microsoft, which competes with Apple, entered the Atlanta market in 2011 with a roughly 8,000 square foot store on the first floor of Lenox Square, added a second store last month. Far smaller than its Lenox Square sibling, Microsoft's new first floor Perimeter Mall location is located directly beneath the Apple store.
There have been rumors for months, if not years, of an Apple store coming to either midtown or west midtown, but to date those have not been confirmed.