Apple will begin reopening stores in the U.S. starting next week, according to multiple reports on Friday, while also implementing new rules for employees and customers to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
The tech giant told CNBC stores in Alabama, Alaska, Idaho and South Carolina will be the first to open back up. “Our team is constantly monitoring local health data and government guidance, and as soon as we can safely open our stores, we will,” a company rep told CNBC.
Apple told Reuters the stores that are reopening will have new protocols in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, including requiring all customers and employees to undergo temperature checks before entering the stores. Masks will also be required, and Apple will provide them if customers do not have their own. There will also be a limit on how many customers will be allowed into Apple stores at the same time, as the company looks to comply with social distancing rules.
Apple initially closed its stores in China in January and later reopened them in mid-March. Since then, most of its non-Chinese stores have been closed, although the company on Friday also said it would begin to reopen stores in Germany and other locations. Apple has more than 270 stores in the U.S.
While Apple’s stock price, like many other companies, was initially hit hard by the pandemic, it’s since made up nearly all of its losses since mid-March. Apple’s stock price is up 16% in the last month, hitting $309 per share on Friday.
“In this difficult environment, our users are depending on Apple products in renewed ways to stay connected, informed, creative, and productive,” Apple chief Tim Cook said in April. “We feel motivated and inspired to not only keep meeting these needs in innovative ways but to continue giving back to support the global response, from the tens of millions of face masks and custom-built face shields we’ve sent to medical professionals around the world, to the millions we’ve donated to organizations like Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund.”