Apple to spend $85 million on new stores

Apple Computer expects to spend about $85 million this year to open its 25 new retail stores.

Apple detailed the planned capital expenses in a quarterly report filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also noted that as of June 30, it had entered into a number of leases with a total commitment of $203 million. The terms of the leases range from five to 12 years.

The company said in the regulatory filing that it expects its retail operation to break even in the first quarter of fiscal 2002 and to generate a slight profit for the full fiscal year.

So far, Apple has opened four stores--in Glendale, Calif., McLean, Va., Plano, Texas, and, this past weekend, at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Apple plans to open a store Aug. 25 at the Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, Ill.

Apple announced the retail effort in May, after months of speculation.