Apple is looking to launch its first official retail store in the Middle East in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates, according to a new report
The location is said to be the largest the Cupertino-based company has ever built.
The Mall of the Emirates is a 2.4-million square foot location that is home to more than 700 retail stores and Dubai's world-known ski resort.
Apple intends to take over space that currently belongs to a movie theater, according to EDGARdaily, a publication that offers "discernible gentlemen in the Middle East everything there is to know, to buy, to do, to see and to go."
"Our undisclosed source said that the store, which will be the biggest Apple has ever built, was originally planned to replace the current cinema complex," said the report. "The timing of the recent job adverts suggest the store could have a planned opening for the first quarter of 2015."
Apple CEO Tim Cook was seen in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, according to AppleInsider.com.
He first met with UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Abu Dhabi, before speaking with UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi in Dubai.
Cook then visited a number of Apple resellers in the emirates.
Apple opened an online store in the UAE back in 2011, but it still lacks a first-party retail presence three years later.
The Mall of the Emirates opened in September 2005.
Based on hiring schedules, the Mall of the Emirates could open sometime in February 2015, according to MacRumors.
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