When the doors of the new Carlsbad Apple Store at The Forum opened for customers the first time this morning at 10 AM Elizabeth Jean DeBoer, of the Oceanside Mac User Group was the first person in the store.
“I’ve been here since 4:20 AM,” she said from her comfortable chair before the doors opened. “I’m going to upgrade my iPhone to 3G and I waited until this store opened because I didn’t want to go to Fashion Valley.”
DeBoer entered the store through a gauntlet of more than 40 enthusiastically screaming, clapping, carousing Apple retail employees all outfitted in their matching orange and turquoise T-shirts with the words “I know people” screened on the front of them.
It was a bit of a madhouse actually as each person was welcomed into the store as if they were a high school football player entering the field of a state championship. It was just a continuation of the welcome everyone in line got at 9:50 when all the employees charged out of the front doors of the store and ran down the line of some 200 customers high-fiving them all and yelling the whole way.
The commotion was distracting regular mall shoppers as they tried to find parking. One attractive woman in big glasses leaned out her window or her black Porsche Cayenne to ask was was going on. When someone told her they were waiting for free T-shirts she couldn’t believe it. “All these people are standing in line for a free T-shirt,” she replied with a look of shock. “I thought all the iPods were 10 percent off or something.”
The Carlsbad store is the newest member of the Apple family of more than 200 retail stores worldwide. And while the Carlsbad store’s General Manager Audrey Todd wouldn’t say exactly how many employees her store has (or how many of them are from Carlsbad) she was happy to say that “Apple is always hiring.”
Stores hours are 8 AM to to 9 PM (Sundays 9 AM to 6 PM) and like all Apple retail store it features The Genius Bar, One To One weekly training, Personal Shopping, Workshops and Youth Programs.
For all the details, and more photos follow the jump (click them to view full size).
The morning wait.
We got in before the store opened and saw something you’ll never see: an empty Apple store.
Two geniuses studying up for the flood of questions they were about to get inundated with.
Pre-opening pep rally.
Employees and the long line high-five.
Some customers were more excited that others.
Others were a little more committed to the brand.
The guys “from Corporate,” showing how easy it is to jump to the front of the line at grand opening parties.
Overview of Apple Store Services:
The Genius Bar: At the heart of every Apple Store is the Genius Bar, which offers free face-to-face technical support and advice. At the Genius Bar, customers can get answers to a wide variety of questions – from how to transfer music to your iPod, to optimizing your hard drive and more, and get hands-on, real-time solutions to Apple-related technical problems. Customers can schedule appointments up to 48 hours in advance through the online Apple Store Concierge on their local Apple Store website.
One to One
One to One is an amazing program that for $99 gets members access to a year of weekly, personalized training sessions with one of Apple’s star team of Creatives. Our Creatives are veterans of the music and film industries, television and photography experts, webmasters and composers who have extensive experience in their field and a passion for teaching. One to One members can choose to learn more about getting started with a Mac or iPod, advance their moviemaking, digital photography and podcasting skills, build a website or presentation, or tailor their individualized training sessions to answer their specific questions or get help with a personal creative project.
One to One can also be given as a gift and can be used at any of Apple’s worldwide retail stores.
Personal Shopping
Our free Personal Shopping service ensures customers can get expert help shopping for a specific product at the time that’s most convenient for them. Using our popular online Concierge system, customers can reserve time with a Mac Specialist to find the Mac, iPod or iPhone that meets their individual needs up to 14 days in advance.
For example, this is a great program for those who may be headed off to college this Fall who don’t have any idea what computer is appropriate for their major or will get them through all 4-5 years. They can book a Personal Shopping appointment at a time that’s convenient to them, bring in their course and college requirements and we’ll set aside an hour with one of our most knowledgeable Specialists who can provide expert help selecting the computer that best meets their needs.
Workshops: Every Apple Store offers a wide variety of free, weekly workshops that focus on everything from getting started on your new Mac to digital photography, podcasting and more. Qualified Mac Specialists present tips, tricks, and advice in these hour long sessions designed to help customers extend their knowledge, boost their skills, and meet people that share the same interests.
Youth Programs: At the Apple Store we offer a number of free youth programs for kids. These programs are designed to empower kids to use the technology at their fingertips to do the the things that interest them most, and provide them with a forum for showcasing their creative digital projects. Our current Youth programs include the Youth Workshop series, School Night at the Apple Store and Apple Camp.
The first of these programs to be offered at the Apple Store Carlsbad will be our Youth Workshop series. First introduced worldwide in Spring 2007, Apple’s Youth Workshop series offers kids ages 6-13 and their families an opportunity to participate in engaging sessions on topics such as music composition, digital photography and digital movie making. The Apple Store Carlsbad will offer “JAM,” focused on digital music composition, in September and our digital moviemaking workshop “ACTION” in October. Anyone interested in participating can register online at: http://www.apple.com/retail/youth/.
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Heh, I checked it out, gotta say the usual complement of Bed, Bath & Beyond and Talbot’s shoppers were unamused and quite suspicious of this new arrival on the stodgy Forum scene. Bad enough when that foreign-sounding chocolate shop opened, but now – young people with tattoos and unusual facial piercings LOITERING and SMOKING on the pristine sidewalk outside J. Jill! The horror!!