Apple Watch Headed To Retail Stores This Month

applewatchstoresIf you’ve been biding your time to get your hands on an Apple Watch — as in, actually see it, touch it and then walk out of the store with it in your hands, the wait is almost over: Apple says after months of online-only sales, it’ll be expanding the device’s availability into seven more countries and kicking off in-store sales around the same time.

The company announced today that it’ll be selling Apple Watch in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan beginning Friday, June 26. Customers will have the option to buy online at the Apple Store or go to a retail location, including authorized resellers.

Here in the U.S., Apple says it’s eating its way through a clog of backorders, but that soon customers stateside will also be able to check out and buy certain models of the watches in retail stores.

“We’re also making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience,” says Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations in a statement. “All orders placed through May, with the sole exception of Apple Watch 42 mm Space Black Stainless Steel with Space Black Link Bracelet, will ship to customers within two weeks. At that time, we’ll also begin selling some models in our Apple Retail Stores.”

That means sometime this month, for those of you who don’t feel like doing the math, probably in about two weeks. Before now, customers could make appointments to try on the Watch in Apple stores, but still had to order it online.

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