Apple today said its store at the Westfield Hornsby shopping mall, in Hornsby, Australia, will be permanently closing in October.In a statement shared with Australian tech news website EFTM (via Reddit), Apple said that it has decided not to renew its lease at Westfield Hornsby.Apple said all affected retail employees will be given the opportunity to work at Apple's nearby store at the Chatswood Chase shopping mall, in Chatswood, which is set to reopen in October.
Hornsby is a suburb of Sydney, on the Upper North Shore.Apple opened its store there in 2011.Apple Chatswood Chase has been closed for renovations for many months.
Apple said the store will be completely redesigned, and it will offer an Apple Pickup station for collecting online orders, and a dedicated area for Today at Apple sessions.Apple did not provide a specific reason for the Hornsby store closure, but it is clearly consolidating its North Shore retail presence into the Chatswood Chase store.Apple has six other stores in the Sydney area.
Apple Hornsby will be at least the fifth Apple Store location to permanently close in less than two years.Apple is closing a store in Bristol, England next month, and it closed its store in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook in April.Last year, the company permanently closed its Infinite Loop and Royal Hawaiian stores simultaneously.
On the other hand, Apple continues to open new stores in several countries, including the U.S., Spain, Sweden, Malaysia, South Korea, China, and others.In the U.S., Apple opened a new store in Miami earlier this year, and in the Los Angeles area last year.Apple is also planning to open a store in Downtown Detroit soon.
In Australia, Apple just relocated its store in Perth to a historic bank building.
