While no one wants to see tragedy on the scale of what happened last week in Japan, it’s heartening to see how people can come together in the wake of such events, with Apple’s retail stores in the country helping offer solace.
AppleInsider is reporting that Japan’s Apple Stores have served as a “rallying point” of sorts in the wake of last week’s devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that have caused such loss of life that the death toll continues to climb each day.
According to e-mails from an Apple retail store manager in Japan, customers have been flocking to the country’s seven locations in the wake of “The Great Tohoku Earthquake” to stay in touch with the latest news.
"With the phone and train lines down, taxis stopped, and millions of people stuck in the Tokyo shopping district scared, with no access to television, hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores," writes the unnamed store manager in an e-mail to Digg founder Kevin Rose.
"Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones," the e-mail continues. "Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world." (Apple’s retail stores are some of the only locations in Japan to actually offer free Wi-Fi.)
Apple’s retail stores also became a refuge of sorts for Apple employees and their families. "Apple told all of their staff -- Retail AND Corporate -- that they could go sleep at the Apple stores," the manager disclosed in a second e-mail. Cupertino has also reportedly offered “to reimburse any costs incurred by employees trying to get home.”
Apple is currently accepting Red Cross donations for relief work in Japan via iTunes.
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(Image courtesy of Panoramio)
