(Sept., 2006) - Although the suspense over Apple's retail store re-design was broken by photos I posted the night before, the opening of the Mall in Columbia (Md.) store still had anticipation value. Exactly how would it all fit together?

I arrived at 5:15 a.m., and at 5:52 a.m. a family arrived to take the first places in line. Others arrived one-by-one over the next hour, waiting by the locked mall entrance on the walkway from the parking structure. Around 7 a.m. one of the group found a ground-floor door open, went inside and talked to security, who then opened other mall doors to allow Apple enthusiats inside. About 15 of us gathered in front of the store, whose backlit logo and ceiling lights were dark.

Employees from other stores told us that Steve Jobs had been inside the store in the previous two days, along with Sr. V-P Retail Ron Johnson. Jobs seemed to be inspecting the store closely, they reported, and was pointing to specific things within the store--for good or bad?

I noted that the front window does have tracks in the floor and ceiling for displays. However, like mini-stores, this stores's windows were completely free of any obstructions today. This store uses the sliding glass door concept, similar to some mini-stores, instead of swinging doors that either interfere with mall traffic or which must be set back inside the store, taking up space (the twin in Providence also has sliding glass doors).

About 30 persons were in line at 8:15 a.m., and by 8:50 a.m. there were 65--slow but sure! As we waiting mall security set up stanchions to swoop the line around into the mall entrance hallway where it wouldn't interfere with other store entrances. They also told us "No photos!" but then they also handled any violations reasonably and with good humor.

At about 9:40 a.m. the store staff appeared in the entrance hallway to the side of the store and began the excitement, clapping and yelling their way up the entire line. At this point the line extended out the entrance door and slightly towards the parking structure--about 140 people.

Just before 10 a.m. store manager "G" appeared in front, welcomed the crowd and noted that it was a very special opening--the first store (with Providence, RI) with a re-designed interior. When she finished, a colleague noted, "And in Apple's tradition of 'one more thing...'" At that point, a man appeared from the crowd and approached a store employee, bent down on one knee and..proposed marriage to her, duplicating a moment from the grand opening of the Fifth Avenue (NYC) store. The waiting line, those in line and many people passing by broke into yelling and applause that almost overshadowed "G's" call to come into the store.

The crowd surged inside, noting that the commorative T-shirts would be given out when they left. Since the center of the store is occupied by display tables, the crowd had to decide--left or right? Virtually everyone turned to the left and moved back into the store--is that normal? The crowd quickly filled up the available spaces at every tables and wall display.

The Re-Design

The first surprise was the very small, two-seat children's section at the back of the store, stuck in between the rear display shelving and--another surprise--the POS counter. The latter is a narrow, small-looking counter with just two laptops available to process purchases. There's also an iMac in the middle of the counter, but facing the customer--is that for making Genius Bar appointments? Either way, the EasyPay handheld computers will be out in force at this store, especially during the holiday rush. Perhaps the three bars will be able to process orders when this store goes into holiday overdrive.

The POS also seems to be located oddly--Americans are used to not having access to the area behind a cashier. Most businesses put their cashiers' backs to the wall (literally), probably as a security measure. But here, the POS is in the middle of the store, basically the fourth face of a Genius-iPod-Studio-POS square. People will be coming and going behind the cashier pretty regularly, it seems--get used to it.

As with the mini-stores, the lighting seems odd (and is definitely tough for taking photos!). The ceiling is fine, but the back-lit graphics spew out light that is pretty glaring, and which creates odd shadows. The right side of the store happens to have dark-featured graphics, so the lighting from that side is much less than the left side, which features mostly white graphics.

The only other potential issue is the traffic pattern Apple has created: there is a ~72-inch path between the centrally-located display tables at the sidewall displays. This is wider than the 60-inches available in most other stores. But at the other stores, there are more front-to-back paths available. Here, the 10-foot wide display tables block out the middle, leaving just two ways to travel in the store, both for those just entering, and for those moving from one table to another or the rear sections. And they must share that space with those using the display products.

The 30-foot store is about 60-feet deep, a pretty standard size. Everything is basically divided into six bays. There are:

• one bay each for the three display tables, showing iPods, laptops and iMacs
• one bay composed of two, medium-height wooden producct shelves
• one bay for the 'kids' table and POS counter
• one bay for the Genius, Studio and iPod bars

.Along the side walls, there are:

• three bays displaying products
• a low counter with no products on top, but product shelving beneath
• floor-to-ceiling metal shelving (software, books, cases, etc.)
• the Studio and iPod bars

Like Fifth Avenue and the mini-stores, there are no third-party digital cameras or camcorders on display. The only product link-up at this store is from iPods to speakers, not from computer to digital cameras or camcorders.

View the individual photos for more details on all the features, and also see these photos taken with the store empty the night before the grand opening, and this video of the grand opening.