4th Apple retail outlet to debut in the Cities

The number of Apple Computer retail stores in the Twin Cities will grow to four in early June when a Ridgedale Center outlet debuts. It will join its sister stores at the Rosedale and Southdale malls along with the area's flagship outlet at Bloomington's Mall of America.

Local Apple-retail chief Duke Zurek says the new store will be bigger than the Rosedale one (which is quite a bit smaller than the mammoth MOA outlet) with a "different design." Amenities will include a combined Genius Bar and "Creative Bar" with expanded, personalized services such as one-on-one training.

The new store will be "right in the heart" of the Ridgedale mall on the facility's first level, with "a prime location for traffic," according to Zurek. Apple's retail strategy, as industry watchers know, is to put its stores in places with a lot of foot traffic.

Apple hints at additional retail developments in the area. "Stay tuned for even more (I am sorry it is not in St. Paul ... but it is another store),"  Ron Johnson, the firm's retail chief, told me in an e-mail.