Text, photos | by Chris Lyn | © 2005
May 25, 2005 - Being a die-hard Mac fan, I was enthusiastic when there was news of an Apple store coming to Toronto. My enthusiasm grew as the location of the store was announced and job postings were listed. We Canadians had to agonizingly wait to get the iTunes store, and the wait for the Apple store was no different. Yes we have Apple resellers here in Toronto, but an official Apple Store is something to salivate about.
Line-up strategy
As the time for the grand opening gradually approached, many Mac fans carefully planned their line-up strategy. Some planned to camp out the days or nights before. The store is within the shopping mall and many people had called the shopping mall authorities to get information as to whether or not they could camp out within the mall the night before. Alas, this was not allowed and they were told that a line up would be started outside at the closest mall entrance. From this information I decided that I would line up early the day of the opening.
Saturday, May 21st 6am
I woke up with only 5 hours of sleep, but I didn't feel tired at all; Maybe it was the adrenaline and excitement that gave me the energy to keep my eyes open.
Along with my girlfriend and friend, we drove to Yorkdale mall. As we approached, I expected to see a large line up at the specified entrance. To my surprise I saw the yellow barricades, but no one standing outside. We walked towards the barricades and saw a sign that read: Apple Store Opening - Line Up Here. A few other people had arrived at the same time we had and noticed that the mall doors were open, so we rushed through the doors (but not before taking a couple of pictures of the sign).
7am
Inside we were greeted to a line up that had already formed which was 150 people long. It was amazing to see so many Mac fans, many of which had brought their iBooks and Powerbooks. And virtually everyone in the line up had some version of the iPod. One family in front of us had driven all the way from Hershey (home to Hershey's chocolates) Pennsylvania, USA to attend the opening, which was their 8th Apple Store opening. Talk about obsession. I don't see any Windows users do anything like that. There was also a large contingent of a Canadian Mac online community who were all wearing t-shirts that advertised the name of the website.
I then proceeded to go to the front of the line and take a sneak peek inside of the store which was in full view thru the glass doors and snapped a few pics too. Not only did the long line up tell you something exciting was happening, but also from the unusual amount of mall security which was present and if that wasn't enough, the Toronto Police was also there in force. I counted no less than 5 police officers at the store doors. Wow! I can't think of any Windows/PC store opening getting this much attention. Do they really think us Mac-heads are that rowdy?
Like a kid in a candy store
When the opening time drew near, all the store employees came out to a thunderous applause and cheers by the fans, the employees greeted all the fans and handed out contest ballots and store information. The time everyone was waiting for finally came, they opened the doors to the public and one by one the store filled up. When our turn to enter the store finally came, I was so giddy with excitement that I didn't know which section I wanted to head to. But since the store was filled to capacity, I had no choice but to go to the nearest open space. That was a table with powerbooks with some iPods attached. I quickly looked for another opening and went from station to station playing with all the great hardware. I was like a kid in a candy store! The innovative Genius Bar was stocked with "geniuses" waiting to answer any questions, the iPod accessories was a very popular area as was the iPod section.
Too focused on the amazing hardware
The employees were very thrilled to be working there and were eager to help and answer questions and demo software. After spending about 45 mins in the store, we decided to leave. Upon exiting the store, we were given limited edition Apple t-shirts in a white box. They had only 1500 shirts to give away, but many people were too focused on the amazing hardware to be seen that they didn't want to leave the store. Who could blame them.
I will definitely visit the store again in the near future when the crowds are smaller. This was definitely an awesome experience.
Chris Lyn, Toronto
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