Shoppers line up for Apple
There wasn’t a BlackBerry in sight.
If there had been, its owner may have gotten laughed out of the lineup.
Nope, iPhones, iPads and iPods were de rigueur in the queue on Saturday to enter the first Apple store in Atlantic Canada.
The sleek store at Halifax Shopping Centre opened its doors at 10:30 a.m. after an hour-long delay caused by a power outage that hit pockets of the city.
Cole McLean, 19, and his girlfriend, 18-year-old Amanda Thompson, had the crowds beat by a long shot. They pulled an all-nighter outside on the sidewalk, arriving at the mall at 12:45 a.m. Saturday in order to be first in line.
“I just love Apple,” said McLean, who was sporting a T-shirt that read iGrieve: R.I.P. Steve Jobs.
“I love the Apple retail store experience and I just think this is great for Halifax. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Sleepless and a tad tired, McLean said the long night couldn’t suppress his excitement.
“Just bring it on. It doesn’t matter. It’s Apple. I’ll do anything for Apple,” he said.
Thompson, who uses a PC, doesn’t quite share her boyfriend’s ardour for Apple.
“I actually am not the biggest fan of Apple,” she said. “He was like, ‘Let’s go do it!’ and I was like, ‘Why am I dating you?’”
Chris Carruthers, 21, left Truro at 3 a.m. to earn the third spot in the lineup. Though he already owns a MacBook Pro, an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple TV and an iPod, he thought he might pick up a couple of accessories at the new store.
“I feel like I should probably buy something since we’ve waited in line for so long,” he said.
Around 9:30 a.m., which was the scheduled opening time, staff from the store made the rounds to hand out water to the patient shoppers. When the power came back on at about 10 a.m., the crowd, which had swelled to about 400 people, burst out in cheers and applause.
Staff inside the store scurried around, turning on laptops and wiping down the faces of iPads for the last time before the big moment.
Just before the glass doors slid open, the new store’s 75 employees ran through the mall’s corridor, high-fiving shoppers in the lineup and stoking the crowd’s already high spirits.
Apple fan Dawn Curry, 41, drove to Halifax from Chester Basin to relive a previous trip to an Apple store in Montreal.
“It was just euphoria. It was wonderful,” she said of that experience. “I was really shaking when I went in.”
Her enthusiasm for entering the Halifax store wasn’t tempered by a cautionary text from her husband, sent to — you guessed it — her iPhone: “Be careful about getting out a second mortgage.”
Amazing
Submitted by Quiet Comment on August 19, 2012 - 7:49am.
Marketers have done such a wonderful job of creating the spin. These folks sound like they are cult members and have lost the ability to think on their own. Standing in line to get tickets to a show that may never happen again is one thing but staying out all night to be able to say I was the first customer at Apple and the store will be there any day you like doesn't make much sense. I guess some people need something to worship.
A Lot Of Workers
Submitted by gregnb on August 19, 2012 - 8:36am.
I've never been to an Apple store and I don't know how big this one is, but 75 employees sounds like a lot to me. Good for Halifax to secure one of these stores and have that many job openings.
Having been to a few Apple
Submitted by Guy on August 19, 2012 - 9:48am.
Having been to a few Apple Stores in other cities I can tell you that they are always crowded. I've never bothered shopping there for that reason. I buy everything online. I've heard that despite the crowds though, customers just wanting to pick something up quickly can still get in and out within minutes. That's due to the huge number of staff. They also have an app you can use to virtually "get in line". When you get to the front of the virtual line a staff member's name and picture show up on your phone and you go to the "Genius Bar" to meet them. And anyone on the floor can take your payment using an iPhone with a card reader. So the 75 staff is about customer service. They do an amazing job handling the crowds. The haters can say what they want but Apple really has retail figured out.
Also, when they have product launches they actually need all of those staff members on site. I personally HATE lineups and shopping in general... but I DID line up at an Apple Store ONCE. It was then the original iPad was launched in the US. I just happened to be in the US and as a web developer I figured this new form factor could be a big deal. And it wouldn't be on sale in Canada for another 4 months. So I lined up. I was WAY at the back of a HUGE lineup but my total wait time from lining up to walking out with the iPad was under an hour. Pretty impressive actually.
Laugh
Submitted by law on August 19, 2012 - 8:34am.
A lot of folks with no lives I guess.
just like you and me..sitting
Submitted by tajabigdog on August 19, 2012 - 11:12am.
just like you and me..sitting at a keyboard commenting on a story like this
Ipod
Submitted by Selina on August 19, 2012 - 9:21am.
I have an Ipod touch, my first Apple product. While the gadget itself is a wonder of technology, the mandatory dependence on the support software of iTunes is annoying, complicated, invasive and intrusive. There are alternatives such as Media Monkey, but you are still required to have iTunes to access certain running processes.(and likewise grant Apple seemingly unfettered access to your system).
It makes for an expensive MP3 player, watching video or browsing the net on a 2.5" inch screen isn't my cup of tea. Maybe if I was 15 again.....
On My PC
Submitted by geo on August 19, 2012 - 9:33am.
Much better to sit back and read about it on my PC. (Rather than be in any lineup.)
I don't understand lining up
Submitted by Guy on August 19, 2012 - 9:57am.
I don't understand lining up for a store opening either... it's not like there's a new product being released or anything... but you know... whatever. If people want to line up and be part of what they consider to be an event... good for them. That's cool. I would never do it (not for an opening... no reason) but I have to say, as an Apple user for 17+ years now it is an amazing thing to see. 17 years ago Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy and the only place in town to buy a boring beige Apple Macintosh computer (maybe a Performa or a Quadra) was a tiny little authorized retailer in a non-descript strip mall on Isley Ave. in Burnside. So it's pretty incredible to see how far the company has come. The fact that the mall agreed to undergo major renovations... adding a floor, rebuilding an entrance and moving the escalators just to accommodate them... says a lot. I'm still surprised that a city the size of Halifax actually got an Apple Store and I'll still just buy everything online... but that's cool.
Apples
Submitted by Tank on August 19, 2012 - 9:58am.
I’m an old fart so being lured by manufacturer hype and trendiness is no hook for me, I know better. If I were a businessman and needed to be connected 24/7 I would probably have many of these fine gadgets to increase productivity and waste the competition. But to me, the vast majority of people buy this stuff do so to be entertained 24/7 and to have the most benign and juvenile “conversations” on while they waste cellular technology, fumble down the street, careen down the highway and annoy people trying to get away from pervasive 21st century technology. A contemporary of mine fumbles, screws and frigs with his iPhone so much, one of these days, I’m going to rip it from his hands and toss it discus style, off the wharf.
The cult arrives
Submitted by El Cid on August 19, 2012 - 10:17am.
The comments from the Apple shoppers in the above article clearly confirm that the Apple phenomenon is more akin to Scientology or some other cult, rather than selling good product. Apple's marketing machine got them to this point, but already, clouds are on the horizon as competitors like Samsung are taking big bites out of Apple's core. Tech companies come and go, and Apple will be no different. That being said, hopefully the jobs that were created here weren't all minimum wage positions...for a company sitting on 100 billion in cash, they should let their employees share a slice of the apple pie.
iDisorder
Submitted by infidel on August 19, 2012 - 10:36am.
They call it iDisorder.
The brainwashed cult followers.
Sad.
Grand Opening and NSPower
Submitted by beejay on August 19, 2012 - 10:23am.
Leave it to NS Power to find a way to mess with the grand opening of the Apple store. There was no wind, no rain, no sea salt, not even a dead crow, yet NS Power found a way to darken the mood of what should have been a techo delight. Surprise...Surprise ! A great way to welcome a new company to Nova Scotia.
Now there's a good little story
Submitted by Here on August 19, 2012 - 10:28am.
Enthusiasts. Comments from the crowd --the "why am I dating you?" is priceless -- and a description that paints the picture for the reader. This was good writing.
Really...?
Submitted by jrmills on August 19, 2012 - 10:31am.
“It was just euphoria. It was wonderful,” she said of that experience. “I was really shaking when I went in.”
Uhh...it just a store. I'm sure it will still be there tomorrow.
They're Experts
Submitted by bro tim on August 19, 2012 - 10:38am.
at hype and marketing. But it's even easier when people think they need the most up to date electronic product so they tune out people even more. The number of people with their heads down, oblivious to what's going around them. Nothing funnier (or is it sad) to see a bunch of people out together and they are all on their phones(?) texting or whatever, ignoring their friends. I swear if you took their toys away, they would be completely lost.
Black Clouds
Submitted by jgs on August 19, 2012 - 11:07am.
Reading most of these comments makes it obvious who carries a black cloud around with them. It was enjoyable and fun for the people who attended, something positive for them, not hurting anyone, so why rain on their parade? It's healthy and positive to have passion - whether I share it or not...and I have to wonder... "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."