Any doubt about Italy’s enthusiasm for the Apple brand was extinguished by a soccer-style crowd of 500 first-day visitors who formed a scrum in front of the Roma Est (Rome) store seconds after the doors to the new mall were thrown open on Saturday. All 1,000 commemorative T-shirts were gone within an hour, and a short line persisted for most of the day. The two point-of-sale counters were immediately busy with buyers, and the Genius Bar was occupied by people with technical questions and even product problems. The store mirrors the V2.0 interior design in every respect, including a display of the new Apple TV product. Check my photos.
The mall is set among rolling hills that inclde grazing sheep and the high-speed EuroStar train. The mall offers no bus, rail or subway access, which explains the huge parking structure that is part of the mall’s architecture. The mall plan resembles a wide arch, with the Apple store virtually at the top, in a wide and deep space that easily accommodated the opening day crowd.
A heavy fog covered the region as vehicles approached the entrance gates at 7 a.m. Security guards let only employees in until 7:30 a.m., when visitors were waved onto the property. The incoming cars immediately formed a line up the hill to the parking structure. At that point, the Apple enthusiasts found the closest door on the second level and pressed up against the sliding glass doors. At 9 a.m. when the doors opened, security guards metered the flow of incoming people for safey reasons. As people were let through, they ran to the front of the Apple store, ignoring the stanchions that would have formed a line, and instead formed a crowd in front of the store. The security guard team again metered the flow, as Apple staffers yelled and clapped when new visitors entered and received their commemorative T-shirts.
The store interior is a duplicate of new U.S. stores, with three pairs of display tables and sidewall product bays, followed by two smaller product tables and the ‘kids’ section. Placement of the display tables creates a very wide center aisle all the way back to the ‘kids’ section.
The Genius Bar is in the standard rear position, flanked by two demo/instruction nooks along the side walls. Just in front of the Genius Bar are two POS counters.
Naturally, price cards, signs and the store’s information and calendar pamphlet are in Italian. Even so, there is plenty of English visible in the store on products and boxes, including English versions of software. It’s only the third language beyond English used in Apple’s chain.
The opening day demographics were entirely mixed, with kids, teens, 30 somthings and those over 45, both men and women. There seemed to be many more people filling out the sweepstakes entry form than in at U.S. grand openings.
The Apple Tv display did not include price cards, leading me to conclude that they’re not actually selling the devices here yet.
Check the setteB.IT Web site for opening day photos, and their video of the grand opening.
