So it’s April 24, you want to buy an Apple Watch, but the lines at the Apple Store are too long. Sorry, but don’t head to your AT&T store, because they won’t have it. You may have better luck at a fashion retailer.
WWD, the fashion bible, reports that the Watch will be available at a roster of stores not necessarily known for technology. Places like Galeries Lafayette in Paris or Selfridges in London will sell the watch, although it’s not reported which one they’ll be offering; the $349 version seems less likely than the $10,000 version, Tim Cook’s statement that the high-end watch will be “extremely limited” notwithstanding.
WWD listed these stores as selling the Apple Watch — none of them exactly mall kiosks: Colette, Paris (which already had them on display); Dover Street Market, London and Tokyo; Maxfield, Los Angeles; The Corner, Berlin. when the watch launches in Italy, expect it at 10 Corso Como in Milan. Hong Kong-based retailer Lane Crawford will preview it in stores in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu.
If any of this surprises you, remember that Apple has been hiring retail execs lately from Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent, not Target.