“Suzanne Rickles had an easy enough plan in mind Saturday – buy a computer at the Apple store opening that day at The Summit,” Marie Leech reports for The Birmingham News.
“She got there at 10:15 a.m., just 15 minutes after the store opened, thinking she would walk right in,” Leech reports. “Not quite.”
“‘I never thought in a million years it would be like this,’ she said, staring at the backs of at least 1,000 heads in line waiting to get into the store,” Leech reports.
Leech reports, “The line, wrapped all the way around the sidewalks at The Summit, was hours long. Security guards had the areas roped off, much like the lines for the Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags.”
Leech reports, “Paul Barnes. who lives in Cambridge, England, but is in Alabama visiting friends. ‘I went to the grand opening of Apple in Rome, Italy, so I’m not surprised about the line at all. It’s like a cult for a lot of Mac users. A lot of them are freaks, if you really want to know the truth.'”
Full article here.
More info about Apple Store The Summit for you freaks here.
Finally starting to infiltrate the deep south. Now look westward Apple!
“A lot of them [Mac users] are freaks, if you really want to know the truth.”
Uh-huh, and Windows dweebs are SO DAMNED NORMAL!
They’re all nuts.
More people showed up at Apple’s deep south store to buy items than all the people who have actually gone out a PAID for a Vista upgrade.
Can’t stand freaks, don’t ye’ know, what!
Lazy, long-haired, pot-smoking yobos.
Three years in the army is what they need!
A lot of them are freaks. Complete nutjobs.
It has been a long time coming. I Now live within a 40 min. drive to a actual Apple Store. I was out of town this weekend but I wanted to go so bad.
Long live the Apple Stores!
Apple has job postings for Kentucky’s first Apple Store, which will be in Oxmoor Center in Louisville, and I expect a similar crowd there. Since I live about 5 miles from there, I’ll definitely be there — although I don’t think I’ll sleep in the parking lot that night. 6:00am seems like a good time to get there.
Jobs will now start his march to the sea
…I am no freak……I am an insane freak ….MAC freak that is
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />….!
Mac “freak is my middel name” B
I invented freaks.
“Jobs will now start his march to the sea”
I hope that you are right.
The Apple store I worked in had a very high turn over rate. Both in Mac Specialist and Mac Genius. Some would quit, some got fired because management just didn’t like them.
If a customer would complain loud and long enough, management would cave in give the customer whatever they wanted.
If the customer would accept that the iPod was out of warranty or that the MacBook’s screen was broken and wasn’t covered by AppleCare they got NOTHING!!
Working with the public is hard, but working with the public and crummy management is a no win situation.
That’s right, Jimmy. I had a friend who worked at an Apple store who told me the same kind of story. I’ll shop in the store but I don’t don’t want to work in one.
You don’t know the history of freaks…
I do.
Nice rant. Is it irrelevant to the story? YES.
I think the last time there was a story about waiting in line in Alabama it was about separate entrances for “colored” folks.
I tip my hat to the South for joining the 21st century. There’s hope for you yet.
m
A lot of them are freaks, if you really want to know the truth.
Wasn’t this story about Alabama?
Thousands of freaks and not one with a camera? 🙁
Apple added a special feature for Southern stores. There’s a Dental Bar right next to the Genius Bar
pre-opening photos
http://www.jeremyflint.com/archives/2007/04/13/apple-store-the-summit-unwrapped/
BTW mudflapper, I’m so glad we can talk about the south without implications of racism. I guess some people need to be able to categorize everything so they can put it neatly away into the file drawers of of their simple mind.
Yeah, but didn’t like 70 people show up for the launch of Vista in London (the one in England)?
You just can’t beat the “Wow” factor of Vista with a little store opening.
Time for a store in Boise.
just imagine all the knuckle marks on those sidewalks …
tip of the hat to Mr. Reeee — well played.
Originally from San Francisco, I moved to Memphis, Tennessee last year. There is an Apple Store here, one of the first in the nation by the way, and it provides every bit of the same refreshing retail experience as any other Apple Store I’ve had the privilege of visiting. Of course it doesn’t have the sweeping staircases of San Francisco or Chicago, and doesn’t have the grand entrance of NYC, but the experience is consistent. A spacious shopping environment staffed by intelligent, informed and interested Mac-heads.
Don’t be so quick to slag on the South. We’re all one big Mac-centric universe moving toward becoming one with all things Apple.
We have more in common with each other than we’d care to admit. We are thoughtless to forget.
Please remember tolerance.
thank you.
– d
(quietly steps off soap box, disappears into crowd of Apple acolytes….)
wow !
Think Im gonna hafta cut the grass so I cn find my pikup truk !
ah’m there
Another store opening up in the south, Fort Lauderdale’s first:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zapple14apr14,0,694661.story
For those of you that don’t want to click through here is an excerpt:
Apple, famous for its iPod music player, Macintosh computers and its penchant for secrecy, unveiled plans to open its first Broward store at The Galleria mall in Fort Lauderdale next weekend. The store, which will feature Apple’s workshops and free technical support, will be the company’s seventh in South Florida.
Unlike most retailers that announce major store openings months in advance, Apple is publicly taking the wraps off its newest location just days before the April 21 opening.
The posts by mudflapper and Mr. Reese indicate that, even today, hate remains alive and well. They are really no less biggoted and hateful than the racist segregationists of the 60’s.
@iCapstone:
Or perhaps a sense of humor is in order? Just because one makes a jest does not mean that they agree with whatever it happened to be.
The trend is alive and growing. Where’s the article about the three people that flocked to the opening of Vista at the local Staples store? Media only writes about fabrications that can play into stock shorter’s hands. A few months back, everyone in the know-it-all media speculated that iTunes wouldn’t get much movie volume or even support from studios. Now that more and more studios are coming onboard, but it is virtually unnoticed by media.
Fun Fact:
The Birmingham store was slated to be one of the original 10, with store #005 earmarked. But what shut down the deal at the last minute?
Developers, developers, developers!
@Jesus,
Typically, tasteless stereotypes don’t make for very good humor. I am sure that there is some demographic into which you fit that I could make an immature generalization about. It would probably piss you off. BTW, I have lived in the deep south all of my life, have little if any southern dialect, have all of my teeth, etc. My grammar is decent too, huh?
@Jesus:
You, Don Imus and the aforementioned bigots I previously posted about just have such sophisticated senses of humor! Since everyone’s tipping hats around here, I’ll do the same to all of you elitists!
@Thorin:
I fully agree with you that it doesn’t make very good humor, I was just trying to say that jut because they make jokes, does not mean they are racist or whatnot. It is not their jokes I defend, but merely the fact that some people have an odd sense of humor.
>My grammar is decent too, huh?
Who knows ? Isnt she supposed to be in the kitchen baking cookies ?
“Isnt she supposed to be in the kitchen baking cookies ?”
No, she works for NASA.
Y’all come back now. Ya hear.
“Please remember tolerance.”
Tolerance?!? Yeah, sure…we’ve been “tolerating” the moron you Southerners keep re-electing into office for 6 years! When are you red states going to wake up? There’s more to life than shooting squirrels from the porch! One Apple Store isn’t going to “cure” the South (though it is a step in the right direction). Perhaps when you get your hands on an iPod you guys can get off your sisters, down a bottle of moonshine and shoot your Zune or Dell DJ or whatever that stupid thing is called?!? Sounds like fun for the whole family!
@Jesus Loves You
Now that’s pure poetry. Peace everyone.
I love my sister!
Freaks at Apple openings?
I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a few Apple Store openings, including McLean, the first. Even that one drew a crowd. But I saw geeks, business people, students, housewives, fathers and sons, and entire families. The people stand around happily talking about their Macs, while waiting for the store to open.
I’ve never detected any meaness or rowdy behavior at these gatherings. The little bit of anger or frustration, in converstaions, is usually aimed at Microsoft. And it’s usually followed by a reasonable amount of laughter, . . . also aimed at Microsoft.
There are often possible “switchers” discovered in line. They are immediately flooded with welcomes and good advice. That, alone, impresses a Windows user. The ambience is palpable, and people walking by ask what’s happening. Sometimes they are infected with the enthusiasm and walk back to the rear of the line.
Soon, local and out of town Apple employees come out to see and greet the crowd. They are, in turn, usually greeted with applause. . . . They beam with smiles, and you can almost see them swell with pride.
There is usually some mall or Apple security for crowd control, and mostly they just direct the line to keep it from interfering with other local traffic. They also limit access to the store to keep the crowd size safe.
When the doors open, the conversation gets louder. And once inside the store, it’s a little like a bargain sale at a big box store, . . . except that there are employees who can actually help you, or just answer questions. Some customers just gaze in wonder at the Store layout.
Many people actually have a special item in mind for immediate purchase. They are usually in luck, because the stores are well-stocked, save for recently introduced models, or those about to be upgraded.
Even leaving the store is a treat, for the first few hundred receive rather decent Apple teeshirts. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have four stores within thirty minutes drive. . . . And by the way, I’ve often returned to these stores, and they are always busy, if not crowded.
Years ago, there was a beautiful Gateway store nearby. I went in one time, before I ever owned a computer. It was a joyless somber place. There were about three customers, and the help was not really very helpful. . . . It’s a computer game store and Kinkos, or something, nowadays.
Am I a freak? Well, . . . I’m a sixty year-old retiree. When I purchased my iMac in 1999, I was a total newbie (nooby, novice.) And as a lifelong photographer, you can’t imagine how excited I got when I found out what a 2 mega-pixel camera, a scanner, a high-end printer, and Photoshop could do with an iMac. A couple of years later I went into debt to purchase a “Silver-Door” Twin, 1.25 hz. full-gig RAM G-4. Oh, and a 23 inch ACD.
As I sit at that machine, it’s still beautiful, and ahead of nearly ninety percent of the equipment “out there”. And that’s after five years of use. The OS 8.6 iMac is fine, but I had to replace a hard-drive on the new machine, . . . and of course, the printer died.
When the flagship store in New York opened, I sat excitedly watching all the pictures of the lines of people. I was thrilled to see the store interior, and hear about how the crowds were there through the night. . . . I guess maybe I am a freak.
More “power” to MDN.
You, sir, are a complete idiot. Have you ever even been to the South, or is your head so fucking inflated you can’t walk out your front door? You elitists are all the same: bigoted, ignorant and utterly worthless. How are you any different than a racist? Educate yourself before you speak, if you can even comprehend such a notion. Perhaps then you’ll realize this isn’t the first Apple store in the South (at least three here in Atlanta alone) and that there is more than just the Confederacy, Bush and Moonshine here.
Those of us that are from here and live are actually quite content for all of you not from here to stay where you are.
Have a nice day.
I just love hearing from our ‘open minded’, ‘free thinking’, ‘progressive’, friends who have never been to the south.
To the ones that are humorous, kudos.
To the ones that are serious, wake up, your Mecca is in Arkansas, which is in the south.
To Apple, come on with Little Rock and Shreveport.
@ AppleJack and others…
We’re not Apple freaks, we’re Apple SUPER freaks!
(to modify a line by Nicolas Cage in the movie “The Rock”).
well i log on to my favourite mac site and find myself quoute in the local Birmingham paper makes it here!!!!
i said some mac people are freaks, now i’m a mac person myself owning 2
BUT when the person in front of yo is kitted out in apple everything and tells you he is going to rship steve jobs at his new church what is the word that comes to mind
as it’s 20 past 6 here i’ll explain more later
now this is being typed on my macbook
boy this comment has got me in to trouble over here as well from another mac nutter ;o)
mw volume as in i really should have kept mine down
@ UK Paul
All is forgiven. . . . There was a mom in one of my lines with little pink iPod teeshirts on her Munchkin sized children. She was pregnant, and was wearing a teeshirt that had Nano printed clearly, across her tummy. . . . She said she got them at the gift store in Cupertino.
She had a real (MDN) “sense” of style.