Apple Closing Basingstoke Store as Nearby Reading Location Expands

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. Popular StoriesApple Says UK App Store Steering Rules Would Be 'Highly Intrusive'Wednesday July 29, 2026 3:43 pm PDT by Juli CloverApple said new UK App Store rules would give regulators a "highly intrusive" role dictating how it runs its business, reports Reuters. Apple submitted feedback to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority as it considers forcing Apple to change its App Store rules around steering. The CMA wants Apple to let developers link to payment options outside of the App Store, which the CMA says will ...Apple Launches New Legal Challenge Against UK Backdoor DemandApple last month filed a new legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) over the British government's demand for access to encrypted iCloud backups belonging to UK users, according to an order issued by the court and reported by the Financial Times. The Home Office previously agreed to drop its original demand for a backdoor covering UK and U.S. customers alike, after...iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Month With These 12 New FeaturesIt is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...