Tech giant Apple has reportedly signed a lease agreement that will enable the company to open a flagship store in Paris at 114 Avenue des Champs-élysées.
The report came from MacGeneration, a French Apple site, citing the French newspaper Le Figaro, which claims that Apple has secured a 12-year lease for the 20,342-square-foot space. The rent in the seven-story building is said to be at €12 million a year. The report said the lease was signed late last year.
The lower levels of the building will be allotted for a retail store, while the upper levels will be allocated as offices. According to the report, Norman Foster of the architectural firm Foster and Partners will be Apple's partner in designing the property. Apple plans to open the store, which will be its 20th in France, come 2018 or 2019.
9to5mac.com noted that the rumors about Apple's plan to open another store in France has been making rounds since 2013 and the news of a signed lease is the closest it has come to be a reality. Appleinsider.com said the first rumor actually started in 2003.
Apple is also set to open two new retail stores in China this month and a total of 40 stores by October.
In other news, around 5,000 Apple staff at the company's headquarters in Ireland were evacuated last Monday over a security alert. According to The Telegraph, there was a security alert at Holyhill, Cork facility at around 9 a.m. and police searched the parameters and employees from three different plants were evacuated at the company's main campus. No bomb squad was sent to the scene.
The security alert was not revealed but there were several threatening emails that were reportedly sent. Police found nothing and the employers were back on their desks by midday.
