Apple’s first-ever Bronx storefront opens in Bay Plaza

Montez Philner, a Norwood native, said that before Baychester Apple Store’s grand opening, he would often need to travel 15 miles to the Apple Store in Yonkers’ Ridge Hill or commute to the often-packed Apple Store on Lexington Avenue.

“I find it a little ridiculous that it was until 2021, that the Bronx finally got its Apple Store,” said Philner. “But I think Bay Plaza is a perfect spot for it because it’s one of the nicest shopping outlets we have here in the borough, so it’ll probably be frequently busy.”

The 10,391-square-foot store will operate between the hours of 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. Compared to existing NYC stores, the Bronx location also has a reimagined look including a remodeled version of the iPhone case bay — mounting them vertically instead of at an angle — and a pickup drawer at the back of the store that allows for easier shuttling of products for customers.

Several of the borough’s top Democrats were in attendance for the store’s grand opening on Friday, including Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., City Councilman Kevin Riley, state Sen. Jamaal Bailey and New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were in attendance for the store’s opening on Sept. 24.

Apple officials did not specify to the Bronx Times why it took Apple almost 20 years to bring a store to the city’s northernmost borough after it opened its first retail store in Manhattan’s SoHo district in 2002.

The store, located at 200 Baychester Ave., will feature a new area for Apple Pickup and a “Today at Apple” section, which offers free educational sessions about specific products.

Welco Realty, Inc. represented the landlord, Prestige Properties & Development Co, Inc. during the deal to takeover the location at the mall.

“We were thrilled that we were finally able to sign a lease with Apple to bring them into the mall and to service the Bronx population as well as the southern Westchester County,” Jerry Welkis, president of Welco Realty and exclusive agent for the mall, said in a statement.

Anchored by JCPenney and Macy’s, the Mall at Bay Plaza opened in 2014, the first enclosed regional mall to open in New York City in 40 years. Apple’s opening of its Bay Plaza location coincided with its rollout of the new iPhone 13 lineup, new iPad mini, and iPad 9th generation. Additionally, Apple employees and shoppers were gifted with a T-shirt during the store’s grand opening.

With accessibility to a central Apple location, Bronxites are reveling in the prospect of not having to commute to fix their Apple devices. Britney Martinez, a Baychester native who lives a few blocks south of the Mall at Bay Plaza, said she got a new iPhone 13 as an “early birthday present,” after her boyfriend saw the store was open over the weekend.