Not one to shy away from the spotlight, Kanye West has announced that this weekend he’ll be opening up 21 pop shops around the world, some of which will be exclusively accepting Apple Pay thanks to a partnership with Square. Square’s contactless readers will be available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia so that customers can focus on paying for their items as quickly as possible. West claimed that the last pop-up shop had generated $2 million in sales in New York City alone, so a high revenue weekend like this could be great exposure for Square’s technology.
Although Kanye has had his beef with Apple in the past, most recently around Apple Music and Tidal, he nearly always reverts his decisions soon after. When The Life of Pablo was originally released, Kanye went on a rant explaining that it would never be available on Apple Music. Of course that vocal decision didn’t last long as it’s now available on Apple Music and other platforms, but that resolve may have come as a result of Apple’s desire to push hard for securing exclusives with artists and labels.
West’s temporary stores, as his site is calling them, usually experience a high volume of traffic leading to lines that wrap around the block. Having Square on-site to help speed along transactions using Apple Pay may come as a small blessing in a world of ever confusing chip or swipe transactions. Even Chick-Fil-A finally announced that it will begin accepting Apple Pay this Friday, after having tried its own QR-based solutions.
Zac has gone hands-on with Square’s Contactless reader to test out the device and see what it means for small businesses looking to upgrade their point of sales systems.
Apple Pay support will be available in 16 of the 21 pop-up shops this weekend, the full list of which can be seen on KanyeWest.com.
