Another year, another Apple Store opening in Manhattan.  I went to the 5th Ave Store opening a while back, but missed the Meatpacking District Store because of work.  This time the opening was on a Saturday, naturally I went despite have to get up early on a Saturday!  Most people don’t get what is the big deal.  To me it’s the energy and the atmosphere that drew me to it.  The enthusiasm is not just from the staffs – they definitely are all pumped up because come on, 220 out of 10,000 applicants for those jobs – it’s also from the fans waiting in line.  Everyone are just there to have a good time!

Apple really is different in so many ways, it shows just by how they treat the people who are lining up! they brought in heat lamps so that we won’t be freezing while we wait, they paid Starbucks to come over to give us free coffee, hot chocolate, water, bagels and other foods.  They give out umbrellas so that we won’t get wet.  They come talk to us periodically to make sure we are okay.  I can’t think of any other companies that treat their customers and fans like this!

The UWS Store is huge, well, we have been saying that to every single Manhattan Apple Stores! But the different between this one and the other is height of the ground floor.  The space is so tall with its glass ceiling that it’s just incredible airy inside.  Even the basement level which definitely rivals the entire 5th Ave Store!  And from the chats with the employees there, we know that Apple really try hard to integrate the store with the neighborhood, each Apple Store in the city serve a different function and crowds.  UWS is geared toward performing art students and kids since it’s in the Lincoln Center area and UWS being such a residential neighborhood.

While by-passers are saying you people stand in line for hours for a crappy t-shirt.  My response is that it’s an experience and it’s fun.  Choosing between doing something routine like going to the movies or to the parks and something rare like an opening like this, the choice is rather simple.

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Tagged: Apple · New York