A report Tuesday claims that some Apple Retail Stores in the U.S. have started to receive shipments of Apple Watch to sell in-store via the company’s online Reserve and Pickup service.

BGR reported being told by “trusted sources” that Apple Watch could be available in-store as early as Wednesday, June 17.

Using the Reserve and Pickup service on Apple’s online store, buyers can select a case and band combination and arrange a pickup time at their local Apple Retail Store – provided their store of choice has the combination in stock.

Neither Apple nor BGR’s sources have confirmed the exact Apple Watch models that will be available in retail stores, but it is likely to include all Apple Watch Sport models and a selection of the mid-range stainless steel Apple Watch models.

At the time of writing, Apple’s U.S. online store does not have the option to reserve am Apple Watch for in-store pickup.

Also Tuesday, 9to5Mac reported that Apple had launched its Reserve and Pickup service for Apple Watch customers in the U.K., Australia, and other countries. The service is set to go live at 6 AM on June 17 in the respective countries’ time zones.

A quick check confirmed that the service is live in Australia right now; however, some models show as ‘unavailable’ and prompts the user to check back after 8 AM the next day – inventory is only updated once daily at this time.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that Apple Watch would go on sale in retail stores in the original launch countries around mid-June – after the company had completed shipping of initial online orders placed on April 10.

At the same time Apple said the watch would go on sale in seven additional countries, including Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan on June 26.

Since its exclusively-online launch on April 10, Apple has been playing catch up to fulfill initial customer orders. A worldwide retail store launch likely indicates that Apple has now shipped most – if not all – of the first wave of online Apple Watch orders.

“The response to Apple Watch has surpassed our expectations in every way, and we are thrilled to bring it to more customers around the world,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations. “We’re also making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience.”

Image via apple.com