Uh oh, I think I'm going with chas_m on this one, rather than the mayor's fearless, but now apparently doubtful prediction.

It's a bizarro move because:

*Unlike the several other small-ish cities mentioned elsewhere (like Laval and Richmond), Halifax has NO *much, much larger city right next door* to feed into it.

*To whomever said that a Halifax store would have the whole of NS and PEI feeding into it -- the complete and utterly total population of BOTH of those provinces is maybe 1.2 million, tops. VERY iffy as to how many needed to be within a short distance in order to support an Apple Store.

*Very small space (7,000 sq.feet). Apple has been EXPANDING stores that are smaller than double that size, and has not built a store with less than 10,000 sq. ft in years.

*It would utterly wipe out the two existing independent dealers.

*Four planned stores this year, all already known (none of them in Halifax). Canada is already getting 10% of all the stores planned by Apple for 2012.

*Stores generally are placed in areas that are booming, growing, going more upscale. I'm positive that Halifax is a beautiful place, but does that description sound like it to you?

As I say, I'd be delighted to be wrong. I had a dear friend who lived there and I've always wanted to visit, and the easternmost Apple Store in North America would be a great excuse to come out. I just don't think that's going to happen, at least not now and not in that space.

Halifax scored 4th in CIBC's most recent metropolitan economic activity index in Canada, behind only Kitchener, Edmonton, and Toronto.

I won't cry over that. Having dealt with the Halifax Mac Store for years, and in its incarnation as Atlantis Kobetek before that, an Apple Store would be more than welcome. I'm all about supporting local businesses, but the gotta be worth supporting.

I really don't think this factors into Apple's plans whatsoever. Halifax Mac Store has horrible service and ridiculous prices. I would be sad to see Mac East have to close, but they might still make a go of it.

$25B shipbuilding contract. Shell is spending $1B+ on oil exploration. Crazy amount of development downtown Halifax and Dartmouth, as well as West Bedford. And yes, a lot of it is upscale. I'm not sure what you were getting at with that comment.

The mall itself has gone through many renovations in the past few years, focusing on more upscale tenants.

Your comments about the store size make sense. But let's not forget that there have not been ANY factual reports. The mall has not said how big the new space is.

Not to mention the university students. Dalhousie, SMU, NSCAD, and King's College are all located in Halifax, I believe.

It's all about the target market - sure, if you're primarily focused on consumer sales (like the above-listed companies) you'll have a rough time if the Apple Store shows up. Other existing companies will, however, adapt and handle the spillover (service, personal training, corporate sales & consulting).
I worked at Carbon when the first Apple Store opened in Toronto. Retail traffic seriously dropped, but the pro market rebounded after the first week. Most Apple Store staff aren't properly trained to handle the needs of professional clients.

Compare Spokane, Washington. Population 300,000. Apple Store. Apple dealer just a few blocks away. Apple stores in both Seattle, and Portland (no sales tax in Oregon), siphoning southern & western located customers away. Halifax is in my opinion as good or better a market for Apple to open a retail space.

Yes, as well as Mount Saint Vincent U, and three Nova Scotia Community College campuses.

And yet, on a per capita basis, Newfoundland and Labrador universities and colleges use more Macs and Apple products than do those similar institutions in NS, according to the head of the Apple Consortium here at Memorial University.

"As I say, I'd be delighted to be wrong. I had a dear friend who lived there and I've always wanted to visit, and the easternmost Apple Store in North America would be a great excuse to come out. I just don't think that's going to happen, at least not now and not in that space. " Maybe if St.John's gets an Apple Store chas_m could come to visit North America's easternmost Apple Store .............. as well as North America's easternmost piece of land (Cape Spear). Stranger things have happened. We shall see.