Apple today confirmed that its Apple Festival Place store in Basingstoke, England will permanently close in November 2026, while a nearby store in Reading undergoes a major expansion and will reopen with a new design in the following month (via 9to5Mac).
Apple The Oracle will become the closest replacement at around 18 miles from the old Basingstoke location, with Apple WestQuay in Southampton roughly 30 miles away and Apple Bentall Centre about 35 miles away as the next closest alternatives.
Apple Festival Place opened in August 2011, while Apple The Oracle first opened in the Oracle Shopping Centre in June 2011, so both stores are marking just over 15 years in operation as one closes and the other is rebuilt. Apple Festival Place will continue operating normally until November, and its staff will have the opportunity to move to Apple The Oracle or another location once it shuts.
Apple The Oracle is due to reopen in December with the features found in Apple's newest stores, including an experience room for trying out certain products, a dedicated Genius Bar, an Apple Pick Up area for collecting online orders, and free Today at Apple sessions.
The closure and rebuild are part of Apple's ongoing plan to open, relocate, and remodel dozens of stores worldwide. In the UK alone, Apple relocated its Touchwood store in Solihull to a much larger unit last summer and expanded its Trafford Centre store near Manchester earlier this year, while Apple Birmingham is said to be getting a series of upgrades.
The Basingstoke closure follows a more contentious round of U.S. store closures earlier this year, when Apple permanently shut three retail locations, including Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland, the first Apple store in the U.S. to unionize.
Apple opened 11 new stores and relocated 17 more with updated designs worldwide over the past 18 months. Including new locations in Miami and Downtown Detroit alongside a recent revamp of its UK flagship store on Regent Street in London.
