Apple confirm new store set to open in Edinburgh

Site of the new Apple store on Princes Street, Edinburgh. Picture: TSPL

The company’s distinctive logo was unveiled this morning outside its new Princes Street location, which is situated opposite the Balmoral Hotel, on the site of the former Woolworths and Burger King outlets.

The technology giants have yet to confirm the opening date for the store, admitting only that it was ‘imminent’. The layout of the new store and number of positions available were also not revealed.

The store is a major coup for the city, as this is only the fourth store Apple has opened in Scotland.

Apple logo on the new site of a brand new store on Edinburgh's Princes Street. Picture: TSPL

The other Scottish stores are situated in Glasgow’s Buchanan street, Braehead and Aberdeen’s Union Square.

The launch was surrounded in secrecy before the unveiling, with even the exterior of the building giving no clue as to its future tenant.

When the press were invited to inspect the hotel that will sit above the store, their official guides were tight-lipped about what was happening with the ground floor premises.

Speculation that it was to be an Apple store had been mounting for sometime though, with slip ups providing clues to the potential tenants, as in March, workers on the site posted a sign asking for “Apple store deliveries” to head around the corner to West Register Street.

The site on Princes Street was built in 1769, becoming the Crown Hotel before Woolworths moved into the ground floor in 1926. Since Woolworths pulled out in 1984, a series of smaller shops including Waterstones, Boots, Evans, Wimpy and Burger King have all taken up temporary residence on the site.