“The snow flurries ended, the sun went down and the temperature began to drop again just before the grand opening of the West 14th Street (NYC) Apple Store,” Gary Allen reports for ifoAppleStore.
“The crowd of about 800 on the 14th St. sidewalk began to spill over onto 9th Avenue, and eventually led all the way west onto 15th Street. Crowds of passersby began to form about 5 p.m. as the crowd grew, as workers who were headed home noticed the crowd and stopped to watch and take pictures,” Allen reports.
“At 6 p.m. the security team motioned in the crowd with the admonition, “Slow…slow,” and we went inside to a deafening roar–clapping and yelling and music–to grab our T-shirts and poster tubes. Three stories above, staffers crowded the rail and rimmed the staircase to provide applause and excitement. The crowd mostly made for the third floor where you redeemed any prizes, or hung out on the ground floor. And then everyone spotted Mary J. Blige on the second floor, palling around with Whoopi Goodberg. They both signed autographs and Blige posed for photos,” Allen reports.
“By the time I left at 7:45 p.m. the line reached substantially west on 15th St. behind the store–I hand counted over 1,600 in line,” Allen reports.
Full article here.
The iLife has posted a video of the Apple Store, West 14th Street grand opening via YouTube:
Direct link via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM9YxV58-MU
The iLife’s full article is here.