Pioneer Place (Ore.) Store Grand Opening

Thanks to Janet for these photos and report on the July 16, 2005 grand opening of the Apple retail store in the Pioneer Place (Portland) mall.

The Portland Oregon area now has three Apple stores. None of them are a large superstore, but the employees are as enthusiastic as can be. Today was the opening of the store at Pioneer Place shopping center in downtown Portland. The store is just like the other two in our area, but will be more convenient for people who live/work/travel in downtown. For those who are familiar with the mall, the Apple store is between GapKids and Victoria's Secret.

Eager Macintosh users were waiting at the outer doors by 8 a.m., and soon were allowed down to the concourse level to continue waiting. Several people took advantage of the Borders Book Store just down the hall, and got the new Harry Potter book to read while they waited. Others were surfing the web using the wireless access from the Apple Store. Several members of the Portland Macintosh Users Group were there, this time handing out flyers to our Summer Macintosh Swap Meet that will be held on August 6th.

At 9:30 a.m. we were greeted by the Apple employees as they ran past the long line and then it was our turn to enter the store. It is always exciting to be part of a Grand Opening! We each get a T-shirt-in-box, and then check to see if there are any new products. Now, if we can just win the Grand Opening prize, we'll really be in heaven.

Happy Macking!

Very early--the front windows are still covered with brown paper.

The waiting line extends down the hallway.

The proud group at the head of the waiting line.

The store staff came out the back door of the store, and then worked their way down the waiting line to generate some excitement for the grand opening.

The first persons enter the store...

The store staff welcomes the first customers into the store.

The store is the standard "small" design, with a small Genius Bar, POS at the rear, and no theater.