BETHESDA ROW APPLE STORE CLOSURE IGNITES SPECULATION

What Will the Mystery "Renovations" Be? 

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!! 

The message was posted by the Bethesda Row Apple store without fanfare.  But in perhaps the most iPhone and iPad-obsessed town in the Mid-Atlantic, the reaction is one of shock.

As reported right here on this blog Sunday morning, the beloved Bethesda Row Apple store will indeed be closed today through Friday, for "renovation."

You have to understand, the Apple store is not simply a retail and repair shop for residents of downtown Bethesda.  It is a landmark!  People pose for pictures in front of it, as the luminescent Apple logo glows overhead.  The Apple store is arguably the anchor of the Bethesda Row development, and certainly the epitome of its aspirational character.

Once the surprise subsided, what does a town of iPhone toting, iPad clutching, iPod listening humans do but start speculating just what's going to be revealed on Bethesda Avenue this weekend?

I'm in the same boat as you, readers.  Although you can be sure the old, corporate media will get hold of this story by this afternoon, can their credential badges really get information out of the famously secretive Apple Corporation?

In fact, here's what I can tell you:  other Apple stores around the country - and as far away as Dubai - are closing for the same mystery renovations at the same time.   And folks in those cities are just as puzzled as we are.

It can only be so big of a renovation in only 5 days.  A Seattle Apple store that closed for about the same number of days last year reopened with a bigger Genius Bar, a new configuration of the product displays, and two Startup Bays, each outfitted with 55" monitors.  Startup Bays are the physical embodiment of Apple's shift from "Personal Setup" to "Startup Sessions."  

Rumors floating around the internet include more impressive, giant wall screens, new loudspeaker systems, new store security features and renovations of "Employee Only" areas, where repairs are made and coffee breaks are taken.

No new Apple product is being released this weekend, so it can't be that.

It's likely to be more iPad "smart sign" and furniture shuffling than a planet-shifting event.

But from what we've come to expect from the late Steve Jobs and Apple, it's likely the mystery results will please customers.  And any improvements will be as practical as they are stylish.

And a week of "Why is the Apple store closed?!" and speculation will give way to a weekend of, "Have you heard about the _______ at the Bethesda Row Apple store?"

What do you think is happening at the Apple store?  Feel free to post your speculation, or inside information, in the comments below!

Maybe Siri has the answer...