Filed under: Retail
Apple opened a new retail store in San Antonio, Texas earlier today, number 14 for the Lone Star State. As usual, we asked any TUAW readers who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. So, did you go, and if you did, how was it? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mikey said 10:44AM on 6-28-2008
14 strong and still not a one on the West coast of Texas...
Closest one is 4 hours away in Albuquerque, NM.
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ZeroCorpse said 11:45AM on 6-28-2008
Pfeh! I still haven't got an Apple Store in or near my town, and I live on the outskirts of the state capital.
Here in Michigan, Apple has put up stores on the east coast (several throughout the Detroit metro area), the west coast (Grand Rapids), and in Ann Arbor (which isn't that far from the Detroit area). Apple has not, however, placed an Apple Store in the center of the state anywhere. If I want to find an Apple Store, I have to drive 60 miles, minimum.
Meanwhile, Lansing has ONE Apple-certified repair center (a little mom & pop shop), and mostly they just ship things out to Apple and handle billing locally. I took my defective Mighty Mouse to them on Apple's advice, and all they did was ship it out to Apple like I could have done myself. I expected them to swap it RIGHT THERE, like an Apple Store would, but nope; They just acted as a shipping go-between. It took two weeks to get my Mouse back! If I had an Apple Store in town, I'd have had an in-warranty exchange on the day I showed up at the Store.
WHY does Apple concentrate several stores in two metro areas, and then completely ignore other parts of the state? Lansing is a fair-sized city. East Lansing is the home of Michigan State University, where one can find MANY people using Macs. Still, Apple doesn't seem to want to serve the Lansing community.
We have two modern malls with some vacancies. Where's the damned Apple Store?!?!
HEY APPLE! Instead of building another Apple Store in the Detroit area, or in the Grand Rapids area, why not support the biggest college campus in the state and get something into the capital area?
Who plans where they put stores? They do a terrible job.
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AppleMSU said 6:06PM on 6-28-2008
I definitely understand your frustration when it comes to not having an Apple store nearby. As a student and employe at MSU I can understand though why they haven't yet. I do a LOT of Mac IT work around the campus and you honestly wouldn't believe how much money MSU *literally* wastes on Macs/computers in general. . .
/Start Rant
Apple can step back and let the university do all the work, all the while not having to worry about dealing with the returns & repairs associated with a store. Why would Apple pay for something when MSU will do all the work for free?
- Students: They generally purchase their Macs at MSU's computer store, and if they need it repaired they take it back and MSU ships it off to Apple.
— Mac computer labs: Once MSU offers a SINGLE course (photography, design, advertising, journalism, etc.) that uses a Mac lab then every year they must be upgraded, expanded, etc. What major university wants to have old 'slow' computers running 'outdated' operating systems & software? Every time a new OS update comes out (i.e. Panther, Tiger, Leopard) the university has to purchase a license for EVERY Mac.
— Faculty & Departments: Every department is given an annual spending budget for computers which they MUST SPEND. If they don't then the next year their budget gets cut. However, if they do spend it all (which they always do) then they get EVEN MORE money the following year — and we're talking 100's of thousands of dollars each year.
Here's how it typically works in any given department. Once all the professors, researchers, grad assistants and faculty have purchased their new Macs and there's still plenty of money left over they just repeat — starting with the 'oldest' Macs.
So for example (and this is a true story), a secretary who had purchased a 24-inch iMac and extended it with a new 23-inch Cinema Display less than 8 months ago now technically had the 'oldest' Mac. Mind you this person only uses this computer to check email and browse the web — nothing else. To 'replace' this the department purchased a new Mac Pro with DUAL 30-inch displays. What happens to the 'old' Mac? It gets recycled down to visiting professors, student assistants, storage, computer labs, server rooms, MSU salvage, or it just 'disappears' (i.e. someone from the department takes it home).
/End Rant
If you're outside the university and you want to have your computer repaired, then you're right, aside from driving 1 1/2 hours to an Apple store you're left with the local guys. 'Capital Macintosh' is an authorized Apple repair center, and although they are sort of a "mom & pop" type place I've had a lot of luck with them. Sometimes it's simply easier for me to take MSU's computers over to them so they can deal with it.
steve ballmer said 12:03PM on 6-28-2008
These crappy sparse stores are losing money hand over fist!
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Corey Keith said 12:22PM on 6-28-2008
I got there right at 10 when the store opened... of course there was a long line. Not sure on how many people were there but the line was about 200-250 feet long.
Working the store, about 50 employees all clapping in unison and the random run down the line high-fiving people.
As you walk in you were handed a short by someone who didn't seem to be an employee, but hey - I don't care who I am getting my free shirt from.
While i wasn't looking for anything particular I didn't see any wireless components... no Airport Extreme, no Airport Express and no Time Capsule. hmmm.....
Typical layout with Genius Bar at the back... I didn't see a place for onetoone training, however there was a regular display table with four iMacs that seemed out of place.
Oh for the shirt... pretty lame... black hanes shirt - onthe front - Apple Logo w/ text reading North Star.
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Ted said 12:30PM on 6-28-2008
@ZeroCorpse -
Apple only builds stores where there is a wealthy enough population to support it, other factors are the percentage of Macs currently installed, the availability of very "high-end" retail space in a Mall or shopping destination and a workforce that knows Macs upon which to drawn from.
University towns already have a Campus Store so the need isn't as great to also build an Apple Store.
Upon looking at Lansing's City Data, you can quickly see the average income is too low to support a Store. ($34,367)
http://www.city-data.com/city/Lansing-Michigan.html
Income levels as a general rule need to be $55-65K before it will show up for consideration of an Apple Store. This will trend down over time of course, but don't hold your breath.
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trav said 12:51PM on 6-28-2008
@Corey Keith: The wireless stuff was in the middle on the left.
@Ted: Agreed--North Star is an up-scale mall near Olmos Park, Terrell Hills, and Alamo Heights--neighborhoods with a median income of $87k, $80k and $65k respectively.
I showed up at almost 11:00am and they were still clapping and distributing shirts as you walked in.
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Cynthia said 4:28PM on 6-28-2008
I have photos - is there a way to email them to you?
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Sameer said 7:43PM on 6-28-2008
I went by the new store. Needless to say, it looks and feels the same as the other one in La Cantera Mall. However, i was disappointed with several so called "Genius's". One of them, told me outright, that he is new here (Has to be, store opened today, you idiot!), he brought supposedly a senior guy, who has never heard of "Crossover" , he tried his best to BS me with Fusion and Parallel for Mac and BootCamp..
The third one i talked to about iPhone 3G, new nothing....absolute bunch of idiots....i cant believe the kind of BS they pull off, listening to them, throwing their useless knowledge around on other people. I expected better of AppleStore employees.
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DaleGattis said 12:48PM on 6-29-2008
Sameer,
If it was "Needles to say..." then why did you post it? My experience was not like yours as you stated "absolute bunch of idiots" but your comment "...iPhone 3G, new nothing..." puzzles me as the Apple employees I talked to regarding the iPhone 3G KNEW a lot!
Dale.
NJ said 8:15PM on 6-28-2008
I showed up around 9:30 or so, and I have to say, it was a rather unusual experience. While waiting in line, the employees ran by a few times, cheering, clapping and giving high-fives to various random people in line. There was an Apple employee filming the event on a Panasonic AG-HVX200 as well. When we finally walked into the store, the employees had formed two lines on either side of the entrance, inside, so you had to walk between them as they were clapping and cheering.
A rather cult-y experience, I have to say. The La Cantera opening was simply an opening, nothing really unusual, people in line, going in, and getting their free shirts.
The shirts are in a slightly different style from the La Cantera shirts as well, there's no bar between the Apple logo and the location, for one. As for the person who stated that the shirts are lame, I disagree, for a free shirt, it's pretty decent. You have to keep in mind that it is just that-- free. I'm just glad the shirts are still black, I would have been disappointed if they started handing out orange, green or pastel blue shirts.
The store itself is nice enough, it's slightly narrower than the La Cantera store, but quite a bit deeper, and it feels more spacious and open, even with a bunch of loons crammed in there.
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Bernard Ramsey said 12:54AM on 6-29-2008
I am in shock and awe, joy and bliss. Will post pics soon. Yay for the new Apple store minutes from home!
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Bernard Ramsey said 12:57AM on 6-29-2008
And for those of you not from "these parts" here are the boots outside of the mall
http://top2bottom.net/San%20Antonio,%20TX.jpg
DaleGattis said 12:48PM on 6-29-2008
What a nice experience!
My partner and I got there about 9:10 AM and the line was not too long. The FIRST thing I noticed was there is a MAC store DIRECTLY across from the Apple store! Apparently, MAC is make-up store, but what a nice "coincidence"! Perhaps another "coincidence" is the AT&T vendor outside of the Apple store... I wonder what they will be selling soon??
The great thing about Apples users is once you get us in a line, we talk to each other and we had a great time visiting with the other folks in line. Starbucks was there to selling coffee and pastries, bringing your order to you!!
There was a big commotion at the back of the line then the Apple employees came running down as described in other post so I will not go into that detail again. It was like a pep rally when I was in high school.
We were in the first group getting into the store and again, was as described above to I will not repeat.
The tee shirt is VERY nice for a free shirt. It is a Hanes Beefy-T, nice and thick and as described above.
Once inside the store, I noticed several folks from La Cantera who were there and all that I talked to said they were there just for the opening. I have not moved to 10.5 yet and had decided to finally make the jump and wanted the family pack. Unfortunately, the 10.5 family pack was not available so I will continue to wait a bit longer.
The good news is that I got a FREE copy of Aperture 2. Yes, I did say FREE! I used my $100 store credit from my iPhone and gift card from my parents!
I did take pics with my iPhone, but I do not know how to post them here so if you know, please tell me.
Dale.
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Arnold Ziffel said 12:54PM on 6-29-2008
I arrived at the line at about 9:40, and by that time, the line was about 50 yards long. By the time 10:00 rolled around, the line had more than doubled and went outside one of the mall entrances.
Not sure how long it took to get into the store, but I'm guessing about 15 minutes, where we were given a small box with the free t-shirt as we walked a gauntlet of high-fiving new employees and many veteran employees of the La Cantera store. For those of us who waited in line for the original iPhone last year at La Cantera, the experience was similarly exciting.
While entering the store, I recognized a woman I saw at the Willow Bend store (Plano/Frisco/North Dallas area) when it opened and for a few years afterward when I used to drive to the store from Wichita Falls.
I later tapped on this woman's shoulder (she wasn't in Apple garb), and told her I remembered her from Willow Bend. She was pleasantly surprised I remembered her and is now overseeing all of the Texas stores.
Later, on the way out of the store, I saw this woman again standing next to the manager of the La Cantera store, who I believe is also to managing the new one, and I thanked them for helping make the Apple experience great.
I know Apple Stores aren't perfect, but they are hands and shoulders above any other retail experience (in my opinion), especially when one compares them to other computer manufacturers. There is simply no comparison.
So, congratulations, Apple, and best wishes to all the new employees. Look forward to visiting the new store again soon.
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mmendoza27 said 2:24AM on 6-30-2008
Thanks to everyone for their nice comments!! I'm glad that most of you had so much fun, that's what Apple loves to do, enrich lives and help people enjoy their Apple products. I was there to help with the store opening and much of La Cantera staff was there too. It was truly an experience.
Samuel Lago said 4:24PM on 7-01-2008
The whole presentation of that page and the icon on the map etc just sets Apple apart from the competition, its just so stylish and good looking.
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