Apple's prestigious new store opens for business in, err, Basingstoke
Big news from Apple today. It has announced the opening of a new UK Apple Store. And in keeping with its policy of choosing high profile, upmarket, prestigious locations for its stores, this new one is in, wait for it, Basingstoke.
Now Basingstoke is a lovely place with an architecturally interesting modernist town centre, but it does seem an odd place for Apple to open their latest UK store.
Where next then? Barking? Slough? Or there are a few other UK places which have recently had their town centres rearranged. Maybe Apple could help revitalise local economies by opening a store or two there. It would certainly be a shot in the arm for the local security businesses.
Anyway Berkshire Hampshire residents, the store opens on the 20th and you can find directions here.
Here’s quite possibly the only song ever written to mention Basingstoke.
5 comments
I suspect Basingstoke’s still finding it hard to shrug off inclusion in those idiotic ‘worst places to live’ things from years ago; while the town was, during the 1990s, starting to get a tad run down, Festival Place is a huge, bright, modern shopping centre, with a great cinema and some nice (albeit chain) restaurants. It’s also a bigger mall than The Oracle in Reading (although Reading’s overall shopping area is larger, due to the more extensive outside bits), with massive footfall.
To that end, it’s actually a logical choice for Apple to open there, and given the large population around both Basingstoke and Reading, both stores should succeed.
Prestigious locations? Reading is way worse a place than Basingstoke and that only opened about a month ago. Apple doesn’t want prestigious locations anyway. It’s for EVERYONE.
Radio Basingstoke -many apols I did know that you were in Hants – have amended copy
Edward – sorry to have upset you. I was being serious about the Festival centre it is a very lovely building IMO. I was just making the point that it is a surprise place for Apple to open a new store.
Great report – sadly your geography is a bit off. Basingstoke is in Hampshire not Berkshire.
I happen to live in a lovely village about 20 minutes from Basingstoke in “Berkshire” as you so rudely stated, and happen to think that your attitude to this recent revile is little more than childish and frankly rude. Hampshire is dominated by polite and kind individuals and so is Basingstoke for that matter. This article lacks in fact and is something that I would have expected from a newspaper like the Sun. So congratulations. If you want me I shall be purchasing a new Macbook Pro from the Apple store on the 29th!
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