Apple Store Expected In Meatpacking District

Apple announced plans yesterday to open a third Manhattan retail outpost by year's end. The probable location of the store is 401 W. 14th St., a recently renovated three-story building in the meatpacking district that once housed Western Beef and a Belgian restaurant. It had long been rumored that the computer company would open a new branch, since its existing Manhattan stores, on Fifth Avenue near Central Park and on Prince Street in SoHo, are both wildly successful. Reportedly, Apple also has plans for a fourth Manhattan store, most likely on the Upper West Side.