San Francisco and NY (CNN Business) Last month, as Covid-19 cases increased in Texas and Arizona, Apple opted to shut stores in those states. Shortly after, the states themselves would either pause or roll back their reopenings.
The retail stores of America's most precious company have arguably become something of a barometer for a way the pandemic affects different parts of the country - and therefore the start and stop the cycle of reopenings in various regions.
Apple (AAPL) features a vast footprint within us, with 271 stores across the country in nearly every state. And with an unrivaled cash pile, the corporate can afford to be more reactive, closing stores sooner and keeping them closed longer, if need be.
Apple shuttered all its US stores in mid-March, reopened a touch over 100 of them in late May then re-closed quite 70 of this starting mid-June, including all the outlets in Florida and Texas.
CNN Business built a map to trace Apple Store closures across the US, offering another window into the continued health crisis - and therefore the health of the country's economy.
There is a precedent for using man-made establishments to assist track the impact of natural disasters.
In 2004, a politician at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was tracking the damage from a hurricane in Florida when he realized that the breakfast chain Waffle House could function an indicator of how badly a neighborhood was hit. Waffle House restaurants are known for being open 24/7 all year round, and reopening quickly - with a limited menu if necessary - after being forced to shut due to a storm.
Thus, the Waffle House Index was born. And while FEMA uses its closures mainly to trace storm damage, the chain hasn't been resistant to coronavirus either - it recently shut 420 of its nearly 2,000 stores due to the pandemic, but kept others open during a limited capacity.
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