Apple plans new local store

By Thomas A. Corfman , June 03, 2009

(Crain’s) — Apple Inc. has agreed to open a store in downtown Naperville on the heels of a deal to open a high-profile store in the Clybourn Corridor.

The maker of iPhones and iPods has signed a lease in Main Place, a collection of storefronts totaling about 42,000 square feet at Main and Jefferson streets in the western suburb, according to sources familiar with the transaction.

Apple joins the Gap, Eddie Bauer, Talbot’s and Clark’s Shoes in the two-story complex, which is owned by Southern California developer Norman Rubin, a former Naperville resident.

Mr. Rubin and his son Sam Rubin, of Santa Monica, Calif.-based real estate firm Norman A. Rubin & Associates, decline to comment.

Apple’s lease follows a deal for a site in the heart of the Clybourn Corridor shopping strip, where the Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics manufacturer is said to be planning a 15,000-square-foot store.

Related story: Apple’s lease in Clybourn Corridor could run 30 years

Apple has been a small bright spot in a bleak retail real estate landscape, which has been dominated by merchants that are dissolving or retrenching.

For example, gadget seller Sharper Image last year closed all its retail stores, including one in Main Place, and the parent of Wolf Camera, a current Main Place tenant, is reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

But late last month, Apple disclosed plans to open 25 new stores worldwide, including a fourth location in New York, according to a report in USA Today.

Apple will probably ease up on its expansion in the Chicago area now that it has signed the Naperville lease. The company has a flagship store at 679 N. Michigan Ave., which opened in 2003, and six other local stores, not counting Naperville and Clybourn Corridor, according to its Web site.

At Main Place, Apple would replace the vacant Sharper Image storefront, which would be expanded to roughly 6,100 square feet.

An Apple spokeswoman says the company hasn’t announced the store at Main Place. But the location is listed on the “Help Wanted” section of Apple’s Web site.

Rubin & Associates refinanced Main Place in late April, obtaining a seven-year, $6.3-million loan from Northern Trust, property records show. Northern Trust’s loan replaced a mortgage issued in 1997, when the retail complex was developed. That loan was from a subsidiary of what is now Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp.

NEW: We value your comments. Click here to learn more.

What do you think?

Readers now can comment on our stories. To comment, you must first be registered with ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com or ChicagoBusiness.com.

If you are already registered, log in now. Once you log in you will see a link labeled "Click here to continue." Click that link to return to the story and add your comment.

If you do not have an account, register now.

Jeff S. wrote:

I'm surprised of Apple's expansion. First North/Clybourn now Naperville. Hopefully the demand will keep this suburban store in business.

http://chicagoismynewblog.wordpress.com

6/3/2009 4:22:29 PM

Recommend

Report Abuse

Lynda S. wrote:

As the owners of a successful Napervlle-based business, we welcome Apple with slightly mixed emotions. We're pleased to see our town recognized by national companies as the vibrant, thriving community it is. But we don't want to see national chains so dominant that our local merchants get squeezed out. True, independent merchants and other entrepreneurial companies, are our bread and butter, but they're also the magnet that makes Naperville so distinctive, and draws people from miles around.

6/3/2009 5:31:18 PM

Recommend

Report Abuse

Rodger G. wrote:

I'm into technology and might get an iPhone now that Apple is coming to my hometown. My daughter has a MACbook and we all have iPods. This is good. Bring it on.

6/3/2009 10:32:02 PM

Recommend

Report Abuse