Annapolis (Md.) Store Grand Opening

In The Annapolis (Md.) mall Apple store held its grand opening on August 27, 2005, and M. Scott Smith provided this report and photos:

I arrived around 9:45 a.m., and there was already a line of several hundred people snaking away from the Apple Store in anticipation of the 10 a.m. opening. Security guards and ample Apple employees (in bright, neon green T-shirts) were on hand to make sure everything ran smoothly. The line was orderly and full of enthusiastic, good-natured Mac fans -- quite a difference, I imagine, from the human stampede that resulted in Virginia recently as Henrico County unloaded used iBooks at $50 a pop.I've enjoyed your site for some time now. I went to my first retail Apple Store opening today, in Annapolis, Maryland. I brought a camera and took a few shots, which I'm appending to this message. My apologies for the poor quality -- I opted to take my tiny point and shoot digital, and the lighting wasn't great.

Please feel free to publish these photos and my commentary on your site. You can credit the photos to "M. Scott Smith". (Please don't share my e-mail address.)

Ropes made a zigzag through a section of the mall near a children's playground, and by the time I arrived the line headed down a back alley of the mall.

A few perplexed mall-goers asked what the line was for. My friends and I suppressed the urge to tell them we were waiting in line for coffee at Starbucks.

At 10 a.m., the line started moving. The line moved pretty quickly and it didn't take long to arrive in the store. Lots of action in the store-- and I saw quite a few iPod Minis being sold behind the counter. The store seems to average-sized, lacking a theater. Registers are at the back of the store, with a Genius Bar on the right. iPod accessories take up a good percentage of the store, with a selection of software along the back right and left walls.

Some of the computers in the front had the new Mighty Mouse, but the driver wasn't installed on them, so it was difficult to try out all of the mouse's functions.

Black T-shirts (with "Annapolis" on the front and "Designed by Apple in California" on the back) were handed out to the first 1,000 visitors as they left the store. The T-shirts were packaged in a small box. They ran out sometime in the first 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

The waiting line snaked throughout the mall.

The waiting line snaked through the mall... and then down a utility corridor and outside.

The line continues.

The storefront, showing the standard stainless-steel top and glass windows.

The first visitors fill out sweepstakes entry cards while others examine the store.