The global technology company Apple opened its first flagship store in Mexico on Friday in the Antara shopping center in the Mexico City neighborhood of Polanco.

Apple retail and personnel vice president Deirdre O’Brien said at the store’s inauguration that it represents an important step for Apple’s global expansion.

“At Apple, we’ve always seen Mexico as a priority market,” she said. “In our expansion plans, it was a natural step for our first Latin American flagship store to open in a city and a country where our users have a great passion for our products and our innovation.”

The Antara store is the second Apple store in Mexico — the other is in the city’s Santa Fe district — but the first high-profile flagship store in Latin America. The only other flagship stores are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and China.

“We’ve always emphasized inclusion in our stores, we always have opportunities for people who are enthusiastic about technology, design, innovation, people who live for and pass on the passion they have for Apple,” said O’Brien.

The store features seven-meter-tall glass doors similar to the doors in Apple’s flagship store in Union Square, San Francisco, which O’Brien said are a symbol of a welcoming atmosphere. Inside, around 150 products are displayed on 10 long wooden tables.

Apple hopes that the store will become a meeting space for people who want to learn how to use Apple products in new creative ways. The company’s hiring process makes sure there are creative people such as musicians, photographers and poets among the store’s sales team.

The store will also offer free workshops on photography, music, painting and other subjects.

Source: El Universal (sp), Xataca (sp)