Apple Watch Will Be Available for Purchase at Select Boutique Stores on Friday

Apple doesn't plan to offer the Apple Watch for sale in its retail stores on Friday, having opted to restrict orders to online purchases only, but some retail stores around the world will have Apple Watches in stock for customers to purchase on April 24.

Several high-end fashion boutiques will be offering the watch for sale beginning Friday, according to a new report from The New York Times. Stores with stock will include Dover Street Market in Tokyo and London, Maxfield in Los Angeles, Colette in Paris, the Corner in Berlin, and 10 Corso Como in Milan.

applewatchberlinboutique
All of these stores were previously unveiled as retail locations that would carry the Apple Watch, but it was not known that the stores would have stock for customers to purchase on launch day, given the Apple Watch supply constraints that Apple has highlighted. In a press release sent out on April 9, Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts said "strong customer demand" would exceed supply at launch.

Many of the stores have the Apple Watch displayed prominently on their websites, along with wording that says the device will be available in store as of Friday. As noted by The New York Times, all of the places that will have the Apple Watch in stock on Friday are high-end fashion-oriented boutiques known as "retail trendsetters."

applewatchlondon
It's not known exactly how much stock each of the stores will be given or of what type, but Dover Street Market did share some detail on its numbers. The store in Ginza, Tokyo will have 350 watches to sell, while the store in London will have 570. Neither store will offer the Apple Watch Edition, as it is backordered.

Apple initially declined to comment on its partner stores offering in-store Apple Watch stock while its own retail stores will not, but later reiterated its earlier comment on getting online orders out to customers earlier than expected. The first Apple Watch shipments will be arriving on the doorsteps of customers beginning on April 24, and as of today, many Apple Watch orders that had shipping estimates ranging into several weeks have seen their shipments advance into the "Preparing for Shipment" stage.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
110 months ago
LAUNCH APRIL 24TH

BUT NO STOCK IN STORE

BUT THERE IS STOCK IN STORE

JUST NOT APPLE STORE EVEN THOUGH WE MAKE THEM.


most confusing launch ever.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TonyD1983 Avatar
110 months ago
Angela Ahrendts clearly doesn't understand Apple customers and their passion for pretty much ANYTHING Apple releases.

Making us either stay up until all hours of the night, or wake up to preorder Apple Watch so we MIGHT have it on our wrists April 24th is one thing, but then going and allowing certain stores to have it in stock on launch day is a slap in the face.

This isn't Burberry, get on the program Angela. Don't mess with a good thing.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RDeckard Avatar
110 months ago
Whiners: You made it this far in life without the Apple Watch. Perhaps you can wait a little while longer before getting one?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AndyUnderscoreR Avatar
110 months ago
A few hundred happy customers who can get to these 2 stores, but hundreds of thousands of unhappy customers who ordered weeks ago but have been put behind them in the queue ... Angela Ahrendts is really making a mess of this launch.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sampaul Avatar
110 months ago
And what about the pre-orders, Apple? It seems I just wasted my time pre-ordering 5 minutes after the online store opened.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TonyD1983 Avatar
110 months ago
What's wrong with sending a few hundred watches to 4 or 5 fashion boutiques on a launch date? That's enough to send a grand total of 4 or 5 watches to each of their own retail stores. Would that have made the Apple fans happier?

That in itself isn't a problem.

What is a problem is having her tell the world that Apple Watch will only be available online for the first few months, making people wait months for a watch, and then announcing "yeah, you can buy them here."

That's pretty misleading. She really screwed this up.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Mock Header With Dynamic Island

Skipping the iPhone 15 Pro? Here's What's Rumored for iPhone 16 Pro

Friday September 22, 2023 9:29 am PDT by
Are you skipping the iPhone 15 Pro and waiting another year to upgrade? If so, we already have some iPhone 16 Pro rumors for you. Below, we recap new features rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models so far:Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain...
Apple WWDC23 macOS Sonoma hero

macOS Sonoma Launching This Week With These New Features

Sunday September 24, 2023 12:45 pm PDT by
Apple previously announced that macOS Sonoma will be released this Tuesday, September 26. The free software update includes many new features and changes for the Mac, including the five that we have highlighted below. In addition to these five features, we have shared the full release notes for macOS Sonoma below for a complete overview of everything new. Desktop Widgets macOS Sonoma...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 double tap gesture 230912

watchOS 10.1 to Enable Apple Watch's New 'Double Tap' Gesture

Thursday September 21, 2023 12:52 pm PDT by
The new Double Tap gesture for the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be enabled starting with watchOS 10.1, according to Marques Brownlee, host of the popular tech-focused YouTube channel MKBHD. The first beta of watchOS 10.1 will likely be available by next week, and Apple announced that the software update will be released next month. Brownlee shared his impressions...