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29th Street Apple Store Opening

29th Street Apple Store Opening

by , 7:30 PM EDT, October 13th, 2006

Apple opened its 29th Street Mall store in Boulder, Colorado, at 10:00am on Friday, October 13. A crowd started to form early, and by the time the doors officially opened, a line of anxious customers worked its way along the front of the building and around the side.


Waiting in the cold at sunrise.
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The crowd grew as the morning warmed up.
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Fans began lining up at about 5:00am, but the 36 degree weather kept most people from arriving until later when the temperature began to rise. By 8:00am, the line was growing quickly, and people were already surfing the Web on their laptops thanks to the store's free AirPort access.


Working on a PowerBook in line.
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The line continues to grow.
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Earlier in the day, Apple announced the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED, and a drop shipment arrived in time for the opening. Employees had just enough time to set one up for display before customers flooded the store.


Employees set up the just announced red iPod nano.
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The 29th Street Mall store includes some design features inspired by the 5th Avenue New York flagship store. Large tables make for easier access to demo Macs and iPods, and check out counters are conspicuously missing. Instead of cash registers, employees use handheld product scanners to process transactions. They can either print or email you a receipt, and have you on your way without waiting in lines.


The iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED.
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A Genius Bar, iPod Bar and Studio Bar are all tucked away at the back of the store. Since they are all physically distinct and separate from merchandise displays, there should be fewer distractions.


The first customers coming into the store.
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Overall, customers seemed pleased with the new store layout style. And even more were pleased with the location. Boulder residents have been clamoring for an Apple Store for years, and today's opening fills what many have seen as a glaring gap in Apple's retail lineup.


The store filled up quickly.
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The day's excitement came from more than just the customers. Store employees were equally pumped up. Senior Assistant manager Kirt Hampson said "I'll have a smile on my face until I die or I'm not working for Apple."

A special thanks to Matt Tracy for providing some of the images.

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Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2088 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Subject: 29th Street WHERE

Let's see, if it's 29th Street, it must be in Chicago. Nope, it's in Miami--or, maybe, it's in Seattle, or San Diego, or Tuscaloosa, or Boston or Buffalo or Dallas or Fargo or Salt Lake City or Terra Haute ... We shouldn't have to click on the link to know what city it's in (Boulder, CO).

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Is that a software section I see? Perhaps!

I hope that Apple will reverse the trend of removing the Mac software sections and replacing them with rows of iPod accessories. In the (very large) Palo Alto store, for example, Mac software has been relegated to a tiny shelf in the back corner. That's probably less than 20% of the shelf space they used to devote to software.

It's disappointing, and it fuels the myth that there is no Mac software.

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