Iconic Apple stores around the world (photos)

Apple's retail stores turn 10 years old today. To mark the occasion, CNET is taking a look at some of the company's most iconic or otherwise noteworthy stores around the world.

Apple now has more than 320 stores, with most of those in the U.S. The company plans to build 40 more this year, with 30 of those being international.

Pictured here is the company's iconic Fifth Avenue store in New York. The store is actually underground. According to a study by Cornell in 2009, this location is one of the most photographed places in the city, as well as one of the most visited by tourists and locals alike.

Apple's retail store in Sanlitun village in the Chaoyang district of Beijing stretches across a walkway, creating a covering for pedestrians to pass through.

Apple's multi-level retail store on London's busy Regent Street drew 11,000 visitors on its opening day. The store continues to be one of the company's busiest in the world.

Not to be outdone by the Fifth Avenue "cube" location, Apple's store in the Pudong district of Shanghai is a massive cylinder of glass that stretches up out of the ground. Visitors descend into Apple's retail store, which features 16,000 square feet of space. The store was Apple's second in China, with the first being in Beijing.

Apple's store on the Upper West Side of New York is almost entirely glass, held up by supporting walls made of marble.

Apple's flagship retail store in Boston does a good job at not blending in with its surroundings. The store, which opened up in early 2008, was Apple's largest in the U.S., and featured three levels connected by an elevator and a glass, spiral staircase.

Apple's Covent Garden store in London was one of the company's biggest, and most expensive undertakings, completely renovating an 1870s building to turn it into a large retail space. The store scales three levels, with Apple managing to retain much of the original building's materials and aesthetic.

Apple's Ginza store in Tokyo is one of the company's flagship retail locations. Following the earthquake and tsunami that hit the region earlier this year, Apple's retail stores reportedly became a news source for locals to check e-mail and keep up with new reports.

This store in Chicago's Lincoln Park has a rather unique look shared by only a few other Apple stores, including the Bondi location in Australia.

Similar to the Covent Garden store in London, the Apple Opera store in Paris retains much of the same architecture that was there before Apple moved in, including columns that stretch up to the vaulted ceilings.

Apple's store at the bottom of the famous Louvre museum in Paris can be found just below the iconic glass pyramid that juts up outside.

While on the inside this looks much like any other Apple store, the outside of the Perth City, Australia, retail location has lots of charm.

Right near CNET's home base in San Francisco, the downtown Apple store features two levels, joined by a glass staircase. There's a large Genius Bar as well as a theater for demos, classes, and speaker events.

Apple's Shinsaibashi store in Osaka, Japan, is rather unique in that its entrance is the corner of a much larger building. Visitors filter in from the adjacent crosswalk.

Apple's two-level store in Montreal has a single glass window that lets outsiders view both levels.

Apple's Rosenstrase store in Munich was its first retail store in Germany.

Apple's Rue De Rive store in Switzerland features a distinct ceiling with rolling arches bathed in uplighting.

Apple's three-floor retail store in Sydney, Australia, takes up nearly 15,000 square feet and features a glass staircase that runs the length of the store. Apple opened this location in 2008.