The iconic glass cube of Fifth Avenue Apple Store is unpacked

By Malcolm Owen
Friday, September 6, 2019, at 9:00 am, Eastern Time (12:00 pm ET)

The famous glass cube from the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City has been discovered. The monument, now visible, is a sign that a two-year renovation effort for the Apple Store is about to be completed and is expected to reopen soon. .

The Glass Cube of Apple's Fifth Avenue Store (via Instagram / chaseitorbchased)

Discovered Thursday night, the glass cube of the Fifth Avenue store is now visible in its entirety. A photo posted on Instagram by the user "chaseitorbchased" shows the cube completely uncovered, with the Apple logo visible from all sides, but still surrounded by protective barriers.

Apple closed the Manhattan store in 2017 to renovate the venue and increase the size of the store. The work of the store itself began on January 20, 2018, with Apple having obtained permission to allow the removal of the iconic glass cube structure in April of the same year, according to a procedure that would have cost up to $ 2 million.

Rather than leaving the glass clear, the cube was covered with a multicolored envelope, Quartz reports, with the semi-reflective material providing enough light to see the hanging Apple logo, while still preventing viewers from seeing in the underground stores. It is likely that the film will be removed for the grand opening.

On the packaging, a sticker informs passers-by of the work. It reads:

Apple Fifth Avenue
Always open to open minds

Under the surface of Fifth Avenue, you will soon discover a reinvented space where creativity is always welcome. A 24-hour store with open doors to the lights and great ideas of this city, ready to inspire what you can do, discover and do next.

The point-of-sale plans include a doubling of the 32,000 square foot to 77,000 square foot underground retail space. It is believed that part of the expanded space would be occupied by a new Beats 1 broadcast area, allowing the Apple-owned online radio station to broadcast programming from the point of sale.

It's still unclear when exactly the point of sale will open to the public, but the revelation of the cube is probably a sign that it may not be so far away. In January, the CEO of Boston Properties management company John Powers suggested that the opening could take place in early 2019, although this deadline has clearly passed.

Apple is running its retail operations in a temporary location, while the store has been refurbished, helping to resolve bedbug issues earlier this year. The next tenant of this property should be Under Armor.