Apple secures long-term lease to open Paris flagship store on Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Apple has been planning to open a retail store at the famous Champs-Élysées location in Paris for some time, but the company has secured a lease only recently for the store on the popular avenue. The company was supposed to open a store on the famous location many years back but eventually moved to another location in Paris as it could not find any building owner who could offer a long-term lease.

According to MacGeneration (translated) citing a report from Le Figaro, the Cupertino tech giant clinched a twelve-year lease contract for a building on Paris’ historic Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The store is, however, not expected to open before 2018 or 2019.

The tech company is looking forward to unveiling a store inside the seven-storey building at the 114 Avenue des Champs-Élysées location that currently houses several shops and a law firm. The company intends to use the lower levels of the building for its store plan, while the upper levels will be left for office purposes. The annual rent for the store is evaluated at a whooping 12 million Euros (approx. AU$19 million).

The new upcoming store will cover an area of 6,200 square metres. Norman Foster, the architect behind Apple stores, will start modifying the building named Haussman at Champs-Élysées once he procures a permit for the building.

Apple has leased the entire building at Champs-Élysées and if the store actually opens as is expected then it will be the 20th Apple retail store in France, reports MacRumours. However, it will take some time for Norman Foster to create a building plan with great architectural design.

There are about 19 Apple Store outlets in France situated in various addresses. You will also find an Apple Watch shop located at the Galeries Lafayette department store. It was first heard that Apple would open a retail store on the Champs-Élysées in 2003 since the famous Paris shopping district was a good choice for drawing huge crowd. Unfortunately, things did not materialize then, but the tech company is now looking forward to its upcoming store in the area to be built in the next few years, reports Apple Insider.