Apple BKC is scheduled to open at 11 a.m. on April 18.
The wait is finally over! American multinational tech major Apple has announced to open its first store in India on April 18 with Apple BKC in Mumbai. This will be followed by the inauguration of another Apple store in Delhi on April 20.
The iPhone maker said that the two retail stores, Apple BKC and Apple Saket, “mark a significant expansion in India that will offer great new ways to browse, discover, and buy Apple products with exceptional service and experiences for customers.” While the Mumbai store is scheduled to open at 11 a.m., the Delhi outlet will open for customers at 10 a.m. IST on the announced dates.
Talking about Apple BKC, it will be housed in the Jio World Drive Mall, owned by Mukesh Ambani, in the bustling Bandra Kurla Complex. Citing an exclusive lease agreement, a report recently suggested that the Mumbai store will have stringent exclusivity measures in place, which will affect 22 “competing brands” including Amazon, Facebook, Google, LG, Microsoft, Sony, and more. These brands will be prohibited from having a retail presence or advertising near the Apple BKC store.
Other terms of the agreement include an 11-year term between Apple and the Jio World Drive Mall, with a 15 percent annual rent increase. Moreover, the iPhone maker will have to pay a monthly rent of Rs 42 lakh for its approximately 20,800 square feet store in the country’s financial capital. In addition to this, the tech giant will share 2 percent of its revenue for the first three years, increasing to 2.5 percent thereafter. About Apple Saket, the New Delhi store is expected to be around 10,000-12,000 square feet and details about its exact location are still under wraps.
The move comes after a long wait and aligns with the vision of the company’s chief executive officer Tim Cook who said in 2020 that he does not want somebody else to run the brand for them. The first physical Apple Store in the country was previously set to open in 2021 but was pushed to last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
