Apple knows how to open a new store.

Attended the opening of the Apple Store in Fairview Mall on Sept.27th along with my son who lives on his own now. It was my idea and a way to spend some time with him. 

    Neither of us had witnessed one of these Apple events before and being fans, we were curious. And they were giving away free t-shirts to the first 1,000 visitors. Piece o' cake. 

    We planned our arrival so that we'd have a half hour before the opening, thinking we'd grab some breakfast and then casually make our way over. They did say the first 1,000 visitors after all. No need to hurry, right?  Fortunately, we decided to have a quick look to confirm the store location before enjoying breakfast and surprise, surprise there must have already been 500 people lined up! Needless to say we hurried to stake our place in line - free t-shirt after all - and waited. And this is where the Apple experience began.

    At about 15 minutes to opening, a mass of cheering, enthusiastic Apple t-shirt wearing young men and women came pouring out of nowhere and started running the length of the line-up. It not only woke me up but it put a smile on both our faces. You couldn't help but get caught up in their energy. This went on for about 5 minutes and then, just as quickly, they disappeared. By the time we started coming down from this induced high, the store opened and surprising the line started moving, slow but steady, and after about 10 minutes we were just about in. And this is where the experience got ramped-up. 

   All those Apple people who'd surprised us while waiting in line had now formed a welcoming 'gauntlet' that each and every visitor had to walk through, to no end of loud cheers and high-fives! Even the most jaded of people (ie. me) could not resist getting caught up in this. It was fun and it was memorable and it brought Apple to life.

   What more could you want.