Apple Closing Basingstoke Store as Nearby Reading Location Expands

Apple has announced that its Basingstoke Apple Festival Place store will permanently close in November 2026, while a nearby Reading location, Apple The Oracle, undergoes a significant expansion and will reopen with a new design the following month. The two stores, which opened in 2011, will be just over 15 years in operation when one closes and the other is rebuilt.

Apple Festival Place will remain open until November, and its employees will have the option to transfer to Apple The Oracle or another Apple location once the closure is complete. Apple The Oracle is scheduled to reopen in December with modern features such as an experience room, a dedicated Genius Bar, an Apple Pick Up area, and free Today at Apple sessions.

This closure and renovation are part of Apple's ongoing strategy to open, relocate, and remodel numerous stores globally. In the UK, Apple has previously relocated its Touchwood store in Solihull to a larger space and expanded its Trafford Centre store in Manchester. Apple Birmingham is reportedly set to receive a series of upgrades.

The Basingstoke closure comes after a more contentious series of U.S. store closures this year, including three retail locations Apple permanently shut, including Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland, the first U.S. Apple store to unionize. Apple has opened 11 new stores and relocated 17 others with updated designs worldwide over the past 18 months, including recent revamps of its UK flagship store on Regent Street in London and new locations in Miami and Downtown Detroit.