Apple Temporarily Closes Most U.S. Retail Stores in Wake of Widespread Protests and Looting

Apple has temporarily closed most of its U.S. retail stores through at least Monday, June 1. The Cupertino firm made the move out of concern for the safety of employees and customers as protests continue over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Numerous U.S. Apple stores have been targeted and damaged by looters, and many have been preemptively secured with plywood and emptied of sales floor merchandise to deter damage and inventory losses.

While most store closures will last at least through Monday, some locations have been indefinitely closed due to damage.

140 of Apple 271 U.S. retail stores had reopened following COVID-19 coronavirus-related precautions before protests erupted. One of the first Apple retail stores hit by looting was the Apple Uptown location in Minneapolis. The store was vandalized, boarded up, looted, and reinforced a second time.

Apple stores have been damaged or looted in Portland, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Charleston, Washington, D.C., Scottsdale, and San Francisco. While Apple products that are stolen from stores are rendered inoperable after leaving the building and can be tracked, that hasn’t deterred looters.

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