Good night, Irene. Good morning, Paris.

As Hurricane Irene raged up the East Coast over the weekend of Aug. 26-28, Apple -- like many retailers strategically positioned in the storm’s path -- turned out the lights on its New York-area stores, including all three Manhattan locations, New Jersey and Connecticut, to shield itself from Irene’s wrath.



But on the same day it temporarily shuttered its East Coast stores, Apple officially opened locations in North Carolina, Arkansas and, yes, France.



On Saturday, Aug. 27, the company grand-opened Arkansas’s first-ever Apple store, in Little Rock at The Promenade at Chenal. It also opened North Carolina’s fifth Apple store -- in Charlotte at Northlake Mall. And it opened France’s new Apple store -- the country’s ninth -- located just south of Paris, at the Centre commercial régional.



Saturday’s three openings are helping the retailer reach its goal of 30 new stores by Sept. 30. Sixteen down, 14 to go.



Check out the France opening on this YouTube video here.