Norfolk Apple Shop changes name: We sell cider, not iPads!
A local retailer in Norfolk is fed up of fielding iPhone-related queries, so has changed its name to avoid any confusion.
The Apple Shop in Hoveton, Norfolk, can't help you with queries about your iPhone or iPad. That's because it sells a different kind of produce altogether, namely local cider.
Unfortunately, since the Apple Store opened in Norwich in 2009, the cider-seller has been inundated with tech queries, so much so that the owner has decided to change the name to avoid any confusion. Starting in the Easter holidays, the Apple Shop in Wroxham Barns will be renamed The Norfolk Cider Shop, Norwich Evening News 24 reports.
The shop, which has been open 20 years, only started fielding queries in 2009, when the Apple Store opened in the Chapelfield Centre, in Norwich. What with the success of the iPhone and iPad, more and more people are getting their fruit-based stores mixed up, and have been calling to ask about tech products.
"Over the last 12 months, I have been inundated with calls and it has reached as many as 25 a week," Geoff Fisher, owner of the cider outlet, told the local paper.
"My brother Stephen, who used to work for Gaymer's at Attleborough, founded The Norfolk Cider Company in 1987 and opened the shop here in 1993," the 50-year-old said. "In those days there was no such thing as an iPod or iPhone and the problems only began after I took over the shop four years ago."
Fisher said he could see how people made the mistake, as the two outlets are listed right next to each other in the phone book, with the same Norwich 01603 prefix. "It can be very funny," he said, "but some people are very rude and they slam the phone down. All I can say to them is, 'I'm very sorry, I can't help you, but please do come along and get some proper Norfolk cider to get over your sorrows."
Image credit: Bill Smith