At the end of a celebrated NFL career, the player’s team will occasionally retire their jersey number as a sign of respect. Similarly, when an Apple Store closes without relocation, its rollout number — the identifier assigned to the store before construction — is decommissioned. That’s why you won’t find R193. Apple Sapporo, the seventh Apple Store in Japan, no longer exists.
Permanent Apple Store closures are notably rare. Only 14 locations have totally disappeared in Apple Retail history, and that number includes three pop-up Apple Watch shops that were never meant to be perpetual. A number this low defies industry trends and makes every closure worth studying.
That number was zero in early 2016 when news broke that Apple Sapporo was scheduled to close on February 26. Why close an Apple Store? What went wrong in Sapporo? Seven years later, the answer is still unclear.
In June 2006, Apple was winding down a period of rapid expansion in Japan. Six stores had opened in a little more than two years. There was just one more left to open, this time on the island of Hokkaido: Apple Sapporo.
A ground-level location was secured in the QB Sapporo building adjacent to Mitsukoshi Sapporo, a large department store. I unearthed this 1992 photo on the Internet Archive that captures the building’s appearance before Apple moved in:
Apple opened the store with product giveaways worth 300,000 yen, t-shirts, and a SAPPORO Folio case for iPod and iPod nano limited to 250 units. An estimated 1,500 people were in line when the doors opened, and a grand opening gallery was published on Apple.com.
Sapporo didn’t include a Theater or many other notable design elements, but it did initially feature a combined Genius Bar and The Studio, as well as a very unusual interior side entrance tucked between software shelving and a pinstripe glass panel.
Large iPod banners decorated the street along Mitsukoshi Sapporo to celebrate opening day:
Today, Apple Sapporo is relatively unknown outside of Japan. It wasn’t a particularly large or significant location, and special events were typically held at Apple Ginza instead. Just about the only attention the store received before closing was an annual series of commemorative Kiriko Air Jacket cases for iPhone. Each one of the cases in the collection was engraved with a stylized map representing one of the eight Apple Stores in Japan at the time.
Nearly 10 years after opening, Sapporo’s closure came as a surprise. Apple provided a statement to Ascii.jp that indicated the store was only closing because the building was scheduled for demolition, but no temporary store opened, and the QB Sapporo building still stands today. Sony occupies Apple’s old space.
Apple fans in Japan are still optimistic Sapporo will return. For the past seven years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), @iArigato has published an article on the anniversary of the store’s closure that includes an assessment of nearby construction projects with promising retail developments. Nothing has turned up.
Perhaps Steve Cano, former Senior Director of Apple Retail, put it best during the June 2006 media preview for Apple Sapporo: "That's because we are prioritizing the location above all else."
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