As COVIC-19 comes roaring back, Apple is closing Apple stores in multiple states (including my home state, California). All of the work Apple has done to improve the online Apple Store experience over the last few years is paying off for them. Thus far, Apple has been paying its retail employees during these shutdowns. I know that is not true for a lot of employers and this is one area where I think we are all glad to see Apple spending its money.

I can’t help but wonder what the long term effects of this pandemic will be on an already suffering brick-and-mortar segment of retail sales. Microsoft announced plans to shutter its retail stores permanently last week and while I don’t think that will be the case for Apple, I’m not sure anyone else in retail sales is safe at this point.