Apple Orchard Road, the official name of Singapore’s Apple retail store, will open its doors at 10am on May 27.

Just before midnight last night, workers pasted the opening date on the white facade of the store at Knightsbridge mall.

It is not only the first Apple retail store in Singapore, but also the first for Southeast Asia.

News of the store emerged in October 2015 when mall tenant Pure Fitness wrote to its gym members to say it was closing to make room for Apple. Four other tenants were also moved.

As of last month, Apple has 495 retail stores in 20 countries.

Apart from selling such products as iPhones, iPads and MacBooks and accessories, Singapore’s Apple store will have its “geniuses” – technical personnel who specialise in troubleshooting and repairs. It will also host hands-on sessions called Today at Apple, which launches in all Apple retail stores across the world this week.

Taught by “creative pros”, these free educational sessions focus on product features and teach skills such as coding, illustration or photography.

Also, Apple has appointed 12 creatives as “red-dot heroes”, some of whom will also run workshops. They include street photographer Aik Beng Chia, illustrator Kristal Melson, film-maker Boo Junfeng and singer Sezairi.

Apple Orchard Road will be run on 100 per cent clean energy, using rooftop solar installations from solar-energy provider Sunseap Group.