Century City (S. Calif.) Grand Opening

Herschel was first-in-line at 9:30 p.m. on Friday evening, and he was joined by Devin, Drew and Gary just before midnight. It was a 4-person camp-out overnight on the sidewalk in front of the huge Century City complex, since mall security said they wouldn't allow anyone on the property until 7 a.m. The weather was mild--about 60 degrees, no wind and slight overcast to lend some humidity. The traffic on Santa Monica Blvd., one of LA's main drags, was alternately busy and quiet, metered as it was by traffic signals 2-3 blocks on either side of the Century City complex. It wasn't until 3:30 a.m. or so that the stream of traffic tapered off, allowing Devin and Drew to hear the laptops speakers playing old "McGiver" episodes on a DVD. A 24-hour drive-through at McDonald's just two blocks west provided some eat and drink during the night. Otherwise, there only passersby were 3-4 pedestrians and the early morning Century City cleaning crew.

Westfield Century City (the mall) is actually a relatively small part of a huge, 180-acre Century City development dating back to the early 1960s, after it was the site of the 20th Century-Fox studios, and built to create an integrated office, residential and retail experience. Besides the shopping mall and AMC-14 theater, the huge complex includes several hotels, high-rise offices and apartment buildings.

When the foursome moved up to the Apple store at about 7:10 a.m., there were already five persons waiting behind a stanchion line across from the store. The line built slowly, and within an hour of the grand opening it seemed as if less than 200 people would ever be waiting. Inside the store, it was obvious this store was different: the Genius Bar seemed double width, and a later walk-off showed it was 22-feet wide. Also, it was obvious there was no separate Studio section, even though Apple had advertised for Creative positions at the store, and in fact had selected and trained them.

By the time the manager came out, the line was longer, but he had to pump up the enthusiasm level a little to get the line hollering for the entry. Finally he waved everyone inside--and I do mean "everyone." It seemed as if the store filled up entirely with people--it was difficult to walk around at times. Besides the larger Genius Bar with four LCD screens, the most obvious difference was the reshuffled sections--the 'iPod' section is now at the front of the store, across from the 'home' section. The 'pro' section now falls further back into the store, across from the 'music' section. Obvious, the importance of music and iPods around Apple has influenced the positioning of products.

As has been more usual at recent grand openings, not everyone came to the grand opening to celebrate, examine and poke the merchandise. The Genius Bar filled up very quickly with people asking about problems, often accompanied by their laptop or iPod. The Bar staff were busy from the get-go, and stayed that way for the 40 minutes I was in the store. Obviously, the Genius Bar is becoming a more important part of the retail operation, especially in busy LA. Even though it's relative close to The Grove (3 miles northeast) and Third Street Promenade (5 miles southwest) stores, and the future Beverly Center (2 miles northeast) store, there's enough Genius Bar demand to fill this new store's Bar.

Just before I left the store at 10:40 a.m., all 500 of the commemorative T-shirts had been handed out, and one in-coming person curiously asked where to obtain a T-shirt...sorry, they're all gone. The store remained busy, and people continued to arrive, although there wasn't a waiting line to get into the store.

Grand opening video! (MPEG-4 - Quicktime 4-6) (H.264 - Quicktime 7)