Apple store | Apple

June 23. [Updated] Apple Insider, an online publication, and Bloomberg, the international financial and media company, have reported that Apple will open a store in Birkdale Village. Meanwhile, contractors have pulled permits for the new store which will open early next year

Officials at North American Properties, the owners of Birkdale Village would not comment.

The pieces do fit together, even without comment from NAP. Apple abruptly shut its store at the Northlake mall after at least three shootings.

Apple informed the Northlake store’s employees that the location would be closing immediately, leaving a gaping hole in Apple’s presence in the fast-growing Charlotte market.

Apple is growing its retail presence worldwide, although a possible Birkdale store is more a replacement than a new market. More than two dozen stores will open in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, US and Canada, according to Bloomberg.

Screen shot from Apple Insider