February 2004

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, former mayor Willie Brown, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his wife Laurene, Apple designer Jonathan Ive, and Sr. V-P Hardware Jon Rubenstein attended the ribbon-cutting for the grand opening of the San Francisco retail store. The line totaled at least 1,000 when the store opened, and stretched around the block and then-some. The store itself is spectacular, very much a flagship store and a prominent spot among the San Francisco Union Square scene. The $249 gift bags (no tax!) contained seven items: Airport Extreme Base Station, copies of Keynote and iLife ‘04, a .Mac account, a D-Link Bluetooth adapter, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. Total real value: $674.90. The bag also contained a 10% off Apple card for additional "unlimited" value. Read my full coverage, including what Mayor Newsom said when asked if he were a Mac or PC user! [Newsom and Jobs talk in photo at right]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The first persons got in line for the San Francisco store grand opening at 9 p.m. on Thursday night, 49 hours before the 10 a.m. Saturday opening! Ulan and his young protegé spent the night in the alcove of the adjacent Men’s Warehouse clothing store, propped up in chairs and inside sleeping bags. They watched DVDs until their laptops batteries were exhausted, and surfed the Internet using the store’s Airport connection. They report that construction work continued all night, particularly on the BART entrance. At 6 a.m. this morning workers were installing the stone siding inside the BART stairway and washing down the front stainless steel. There was no activity at all inside the store at this hour.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The first persons got in line for the San Francisco store grand opening at 9 p.m. on Thursday night, 49 hours before the 10 a.m. Saturday opening! Ulan and his young protegé spent the night in the alcove of the adjacent Men’s Warehouse clothing store, propped up in chairs and inside sleeping bags. They watched DVDs until their laptops batteries were exhausted, and surfed the Internet using the store’s Airport connection. They report that construction work continued all night, particularly on the BART entrance. At 6 a.m. this morning workers were installing the stone siding inside the BART stairway and washing down the front stainless steel. There was no activity at all inside the store at this hour.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The OS X Faq Web site has photos of Thursday’s press event at the SF store, and an mp3 audio version of the presentation that V-P for Retail Ron Johnson gave the press. During the interview, Johnson said their "very first priority" back in 2000 was to open a San Francisco store, but waited for the perfect location that provided great visibility. He talked about visitor traffic, which averages 1,000 persons per store, per day. He noted that $1 out of every $7 in revenues is now generated by the retail stores. He said people like the stores because they’re not just a place to buy, but a neighborhood place to come–"Everybody that comes to our stores feels welcome." He mentioned "rapid repair" in-store, which now averages just under two days. Starting April 1st, Apple will offer in-store guaranteed next-day repair service for "pros." He said Apple had 1,352 applicants for the SF store, and hired 70 (during 2003 they had 16,438 retail applicants overall). Half the employees have "strong pro experience," Johnson said 35 store employees are trained on Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and similar software. He noted the theater seats are the same style used in Pixar’s theater.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The OS X Faq Web site has photos of Thursday’s press event at the SF store, and an mp3 audio version of the presentation that V-P for Retail Ron Johnson gave the press. During the interview, Johnson said their "very first priority" back in 2000 was to open a San Francisco store, but waited for the perfect location that provided great visibility. read more…

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Apple held the press event for the San Francisco retail store this morning, and has posted a press release about the grand opening. Among the items: the store will feature a glass staircase to the second floor, there’s a 14-seat Genius Bar, an Internet café where every iMac has an iSight attached, a 6-seat "Kids" section, and a 39-seat "state-of-the-art" theater. Apple said its retail stores have hosted "more than 30 million visitors" since the first store opened in May 2001. Update: The rain and wind have ended, and the weather should be improving through Saturday. I’m forecasting a large and early crowd, especially now that Apple has promised a mystery gift bag with up to $751 of free merchandise.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Apple held the press event for the San Francisco retail store this morning, and has posted a press release about the grand opening. Among the items: the store will feature a glass staircase to the second floor, there’s a 14-seat Genius Bar, an Internet café where every iMac has an iSight attached, a 6-seat "Kids" section, and a 39-seat "state-of-the-art" theater. Apple said its retail stores have hosted "more than 30 million visitors" since the first store opened in May 2001. Update: The rain and wind have ended, and the weather should be improving through Saturday. I’m forecasting a large and early crowd, especially now that Apple has promised a mystery gift bag with up to $751 of free merchandise.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }