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Apple’s Upper East Side retail store is built over a 1920s reinforced bank vault

When Apple opens its new Upper East Side Apple Store on Saturday, visitors will have the opportunity to view historical architecture in addition to shopping for iPhones and Apple Watches. That’s because the new retail store located on 940 Madison Avenue was once the home of the U.S. Mortgage & Trust bank — there’s even a bank vault below the store — and Apple has restored much of the original design for its new showroom…

Apple’s Upper East Side location maintains a portion of a Beaux Arts building, the AP notes, and Apple has worked to return the building to its 1920s look with chandeliers and marble floors. The exterior even maintains the original look of the building before Apple moved in as a simple black flag labeled with a white Apple logo over the marble entrance.

That bank vault below the surface of the store? Apple has converted it into a special downstairs VIP room for private meetings with business customers and likely one-on-one Apple Watch Edition try-on appointments. The former reinforced bank vault is said to even maintain its steel bars and massive steel door.

Apple’s head of retail, Angela Ahrendts, described maintaining the original look of the venue and customizing it from recognizable Apple Store designs as similar to iPhone users personalize their devices:

“It’s no different than every customer downloads different apps and customizes their phones differently,” said Angela Ahrendts, the senior vice president who oversees the company’s retail and online stores.

The store will even have special hours that honor the surrounding neighborhood: 9am-8pm on Monday through Saturday, and 11am-7pm on Sunday.

Rumors that Apple was planning an Upper East Side Apple Store first surfaced just over a year ago. We discussed the store’s opening plans earlier this year in our New York City Apple Store report before Apple officially revealed opening details last month.

The Upper East Side store opens to the public on Saturday, June 13th, at 9am.

Photo via AP

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Comments

  1. irelandjnr - 9 years ago

    Weird analogy Angela.

  2. Adam Marsh (@AdamMarsh_) - 9 years ago

    Iv been to the Apple store at the opera in Paris and they too have a bank vault underground. They use it as the part of the store with beats headphones and accessories.

  3. Terrence Newton - 9 years ago

    I’ve always asked myself what’s missing here in NYC? The answer? Even more Apple stores.

    That brings the total to 6 on the island of Manhattan alone, not to mention the one in Staten Island and the new one coming up in Queens.

  4. jkruehne - 9 years ago

    20th meets “high tech” – best combo ever ;-)

  5. CoreyNYC (@CoreyNYC) - 9 years ago

    Any updates on the water damage that happened in the forthcoming Queens store last week?

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.