Joins new Chinese, Italian stores

The upcoming weekend will see a flurry of international Apple Store launches, the company has confirmed. Germany is getting a fourth store on Saturday, based in Oberhausen's CentrO shopping complex. The facility is described as the largest of its kind in Europe, with luxuries such as a movie theater, water park and even a model train layout.

A fifth French store is being opened the same day in Vélizy-Villacoublay, a town between Paris and Versailles. Adding to an already long list of UK stores is the MetroCentre mall outlet in Gateshead. The shop is just three miles away, in fact, from one in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Previously confirmed openings are also taking place in Shanghai, China and Bergamo, Italy. The Shanghai location (seen in article photos) is notable as the second in the city, if slightly smaller than its sibling, and just in time to carry the Chinese version of the iPhone 4. An Apple product manager, Stan Ng, mentions that China should be getting the new iPod nano and shuffle "sometime next week;" the Touch is slated for October.

by MacNN Staff