“Hundreds lined up to be among the first at the Apple Store that opened yesterday in Stamford Town Center,” Alexandra Fenwick reports for The Stamford Advocate. “Some were there to make purchases or get help with MacIntosh products they already owned. Many said the offer of free T-shirts for the first 1,000 customers was a draw, but most were there for what they called ‘The Apple Experience.'”
“‘It’s really tough to put a finger on it and not to sound elitist about it, but there’s kind of a culture surrounding it,’ said West Haven resident Mike Denysenko, a graphic design teacher at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield,” Fenwick reports. “While Apple fans waited for the glass doors to slide open at 10 a.m., employees held a pep rally inside the store, clapping and stomping their feet, then running outside to high-five the waiting customers. ‘This mall’s not going to know what hit them,’ store general manager Joe DiGiovanni said.”
Fenwick reports, “Mall security supervisor Paul Smith said his security team was prepared to handle an initial crowd of up to 300. ‘This is the largest grand opening I’ve ever seen,’ said Stamford police officer Ed Davis, who has been working mall security on weekends for 10 years.”
Fenwick reports, “Yet Davis said he thought the crowds could have been even larger if the mall garage had opened earlier. ‘I think the garage took away from it because people couldn’t get in,’ he said. Before the store opened, a curious employee next door at Abercrombie & Fitch approached DiGiovanni. ‘Are you giving away something free?’ Lorraine Millington asked the manager. DiGiovanni explained the T-shirt promotion, but that didn’t seem to satisfy Millington. ‘It’s not like it’s the first store ever being opened,’ she said. ‘But it’s Apple!’ DiGiovanni said.”
Full article, in which Fenwick also amusingly writes, “Sharon Greene of Norwalk said she owns an iPod but is a personal computer person for work, referring to the rift between those dedicated to either Macs or PCs,” here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Apple Macs is the only “personal computer” that can run all three major operating systems, Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. Just wait until Joe and Jane Six Pack finally gets that message. E and E.
Info, directions, and more about Apple Store Stamford here.
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Related article:
Hundreds line up for Apple Store West Town Mall grand opening in Knoxville [UPDATED] – July 01, 2006
‘Are you giving away something free?’
Apple has a long way to go to inform the computer buying public that there is a much better alternative to a Windows PC.
And that is a good thing.
For the majority of the public there they only know MS Windows and they believe MS invented the computer. Also they think any OS is a derivative of Windows and therefore just as bad.
There are a lot of eyes to open.
Retailers can only dream of having customers as loyal as Apple’s.
You see you can’t believe everything you hear (here) about the people from Connecticut.
Especially what the people from Tennessee say about them.
MDW: “area” Like Area 51 doesn’t exist in Connecticut.
Actually just between us Mac users, when you buy something from a Apple Store and provide your email and zip code. When Apple opens a new store in your area they send you a email before it opens, with the *cough* suggestion of a 10% store discount. When you are buying a few thousand dollars worth of Apple gear, this can add up to quite a tidy savings.
For instance the Night of the Panther I got about $1000 off my bill, which I then bought iPods and other goodies.
Now for your information, it seems Mac OS X 10.5 is going to be a big time event, meaning that on the “Night of the Lepoard” we might be seeing the same across the store discount of 10%.
Hopefully there will be something like a Dual Quad core Mac Pro and new iPods in the stores by then.
This public service announcement brought to you by Channel Z. All static, all day, forever.
Yes, my dear Sharon Greene, the Macintosh IS a personal computer, or PC.