Shibuya Store Grand Opening

Thanks to Mike for his report and photos on the grand opening of the Shibuya (Tokyo) store.

He landed in Tokyo on Friday to find it's 91° F.--and even hotter without any breezes. As of 4:30 p.m. Friday there's no waiting line for the grand opening, but plenty of inside activity as the store prepares for the 10 a.m. Saturday grand opening. Here are his exclusive photos, including a glimpse of the circular glass staircase at the back of the store.

The Shibuya (Tokyo) retail store appears rather narrow, but it includes a second story of retail space. It features the traditional bead-blasted stainless steel façade, back-lit white Apple logo, and glass front windows. The store is framed by leafy trees, giving the store an appearance similar to the Shinsaibashi store. Notice the pile of trash and cardboard at the curb, left-overs from the store preparations.

The glass windows of the store give a peek inside. The front doors are of the sliding variety. Notice the grand opening easel sign, and the back-lit green sign announcing the debut of iTune Music Store in Japan--announced just two days earlier by Steve Jobs. At the center rear of the store is an elevator.

The store features the traditional Apple interior: stone flooring, wooden tables, and the standard ceiling and lighting arrangement. Look carefully at the back of the store: just to the left of the person is the glass staircase to the second floor--it's a very tight curve, and a very compact design that is not like the staircase at Osaka. Directly behind the person, and under the stairway, is a collection of congratulatory flowers that are traditionally delivered to the store by well-wishers, community groups, and other businesses.

Also, if you look very closely, you can see photographer Mike in the glass reflection to the left.

By Friday early evening, Youichi (above) had arrived as first in line for the grand opening, and was camped in front of the store along with five other persons.

Saturday Morning: I got out of the hotel a little before 6 a.m. and there was the end of the line across the street. That's 2+ blocks to the store! I went down to the store and showed Youichi his picture on my Powerbook on the ifoAppleStore page. He and his friends there had a great laugh and passed the 'Book around. I got into the store about 10:45 a.m.

They had the usual handouts while we were in line, but they also handed out bottles of iced tea (unsweetened!). Then there was the scratch-off card, too. Well, the store is somewhat smallish, but it has two floors. I was looking around and picked up and bought a Mighty Mouse, which were sold out in the States. Then I remembered the scratch-off card. When I scratched it off, it said Bose and the rest was Kanji. So, they were redeeming the winners upstairs at the Genius bar and quite a few people were winning stuff, really pretty good stuff! I won the noise cancelling Bose earphones! Not bad! After I left the Genius Bar, a big cheer went up and I guess someone got a Powerbook! There were no Lucky Bags. Ron Johnson (Sr. V-P Retail) was there and I told him he's doing a great job.

After I left the store at about 11:25 a.m., the line was still going out of sight. But now the sun was high and beating down on them. All the time I was standing in line to get in, hundreds of people poured up the street to get in line. They would come in bunches as different trains arrive down at Shibuya Station, about 6 blocks away. Lots of cameras, electronic gadgets, cell phones, and white earphones were visible. This is going to be a great market for Apple.