Filed under: Retail
Apple Store Park City, Lancaster PA: Photos from opening day
It's a fine Saturday for a new Apple Store -- in fact, it's a fine day for five of them, ranging from the mighty Pacific to the towering Rockies, from the fruited hills of Pennsylvania to the verdant valleys of Northern Ireland. [Dial it back there, Woody Guthrie. – Ed.] Even as most economic indicators suggest a surging market in canned goods and clothing made from barrels, Apple is merrily investing in more retail outlets.
Fresh from the opening of the Park City Apple Store in Lancaster, PA, reader Jonathan Ober sent in his photos of the festivities; you can review all the fun in the gallery below. Did you visit one of the other store openings today? Shoot us a quick tip with a link to your photos or stories and we'll share them with the world.
Another note for anyone visiting the stores this weekend: I noticed at the 14th Street store in New York City yesterday that the new iPod nanos ($149/$199 US) were paired up in demo stations with the Bose QuietComfort 3 noise-cancelling headphones ($350 US).
While the sound quality was extraordinary, and the noise-suppression effect quite noticeable on the loud 2nd floor of the store, I have to think that using a pair of cans that costs 2x as much as the iPod isn't really fair to consumers, who are going to be a little disappointed with the bundled headphones after that experience. Are the Bose high-end 'phones ubiquitous in all stores with the nanos, or just in NYC? If you're shopping for a new iPod, do you bring your own headphones along to try it out? Just wondering... let us know below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jash Sayani said 3:36PM on 9-20-2008
Cool. A spacy store. And lots of apps in there !
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oki said 3:44PM on 9-20-2008
sweet!
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Josh said 4:22PM on 9-20-2008
Jeez I hate Weblog, Inc. galleries. Why can't you use one that doesn't require a page refresh every single time you move to the next image?
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Jerry said 5:45PM on 9-20-2008
YES!!! I agree
SuperMac said 7:43PM on 9-20-2008
Me too!
Matt said 4:23PM on 9-20-2008
we have bose quite comforts at our store too (white plains, new york)
apple.com/retail/thewestchester
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Eric said 4:28PM on 9-20-2008
Those Bose headphones are only good at canceling noise. The sound quality from them is nothing great. I'd take my Shure earbuds over them any day.
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Grant said 4:36PM on 9-20-2008
-> "While the sound quality was extraordinary, and the noise-suppression effect quite noticeable on the loud 2nd floor of the store, I have to think that using a pair of cans that costs 2x as much as the iPod isn't really fair to consumers, who are going to be a little disappointed with the bundled headphones after that experience."
Sorry, but that's ridiculous. Consumers can tell that they are using nice headphones, and are free to purchase nice headphones to use with an iPod. Their listening experience at the store cannot always match their listening experience with the product once they take it home or on the road, and it's common sense that Apple would try to put their best foot forward, as it were, in presenting the experience.
In other news: Is it really fair to consumers for clothing companies to show their clothes being worn by models (and pinned up in the back)? Etc., etc., etc.
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Michael Rose said 4:44PM on 9-20-2008
Then why not have the bundled headphones there as well, to compare?
I don't object to having "nice" headphones with an iPod on display... but headphones that cost twice as much as the iPod itself are a little bit much.
brian said 4:51PM on 9-20-2008
michael.. you actually expect them to have the included headphones with the display model? that would be gross.
Artr said 5:00PM on 9-20-2008
They're an OH/S matter, plus it's easier to try out listening to the iPod.
At most stores they have the earbuds on the edge two iPods and bose headphones in the middle.
Michael Rose said 5:06PM on 9-20-2008
OK, fair point, that would be gross.
MikeN said 5:07PM on 9-20-2008
I'm with you on that.. I'm not going to stick the bundled headphones in my ears in the store. Thats sick.. For years back to sony and aiwa ect. You never get the best headphones with your Walkman,Diskman,Ipod,Zune, the list goes on..
Who cares how much the headphones cost... Who cares that they are bose they sound good end of story..
If the audio coming from the ipod was crap the headphones would be able to detail that crap as well.
and in defense to apple. my local store uses bose headphones for all devices even on some of the macbook pros. Why should they unbox cheaper headphones and store use them just because they cost more then the product they are currently tested on.
Taylor said 5:16PM on 9-20-2008
At the Apple Store in Airlington, VA they were using the Quiet Comforts and also the new Dr. Dre Beats.
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Thom Jensen said 5:27PM on 9-20-2008
I went to the Lancaster store this afternoon. It looked like any other mall Apple store, full of energy and excited new employees. I actually went in order to see the new products, i.e. new nanos and touches. I had another reason as well. My mother has macular degeneration and loves audio books. I was so interested in learning that the new nano's were equiped with "universal access" like iMacs and laptops. It's very clever. The syncing computer generates the synthesized voice so the nano can announce tracks and other nano actions. I wanted to hear how it sounded. Well, the young man in blue didn't know anything about it. He went into the back room and a more senior blue guy came out. He went to an iMac and showed me where I could learn about the feature on the Apple site. Then he offered the phone number where I could call and someone could help me set it up. Please. I wanted to see and hear it in action. It seems to me that Apple Stores ought to have at least one nano "set-up" with this neat new feature. There are a lot of folks with visual impairment who might want to buy a new player because of "Alex", the Mac voice.
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ryaninc said 5:45PM on 9-20-2008
I was actually in NYC last week and noticed the Bose headphones. But when I actually picked up one of the new Nanos back home in Orlando, FL, all the display models were using the standard earbuds.
The new Nanos are pretty slick, too, by the way. :-)
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Grant said 5:53PM on 9-20-2008
As was pointed out above, there's also a cleanliness issue due to the fact that the standard earbuds would pick up a lot of earwax and such. So in this case, it's not really an option. But even if it were, I think that Apple stores would probably choose to set up their kiosks with nicer headphones, and that this would be a reasonable, smart choice for them.
First, it allows customers to try out other products that they can purchase. Most customers would feel much better putting down $300 for headphones if they could at least try them first. If you want to sell 'premium' headphones at the store, this is an excellent way to subtly suggest them to your customers.
But second, and more importantly, it presents the product at its best. Customers can easily replicate that by buying headphones if they feel it's worth the price. As I mentioned before, clothing stores show their clothes being worn by models, which doesn't represent how those clothes will normally be worn. Nor can customers easily replicate that situation. But nobody feels cheated by it. With almost any product, it is displayed and advertised as it performs under ideal conditions. It's true for food, cars, literally everything.
Please explain to me why Apple should be held to a higher standard of 'honesty' than every other company. You might call them simple marketing ploys, but they are so common (and generally considered effective) that it's unreasonable to be outraged by them, or to expect Apple stores to deny themselves the usual sales techniques.
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Patrick K said 11:43AM on 9-21-2008
Victoria Square in NI features Sennheiser and Bose noise cancelling headphones on all the different iPods.
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MRCUR said 6:22PM on 9-20-2008
I was at the opening this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was about 30th in line, maybe less. I thought it was fantastic to see all of the employees running around, especially the whole way down the line.
I did see some employees from the King of Prussia store, so either they're being moved to Lancaster or were just there for training the new people. I got my shirt and walked around for a bit to check out the new iPods, which are fantastic. Overall the experience was one I won't forget and I can't wait until I'm old enough to work at the store.
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Kevin said 6:53PM on 9-20-2008
i went there today...didn't get the free t-shirt for the first 1,000 people but oh well...
the store is pretty big. lotta macs and ipods (obviously) there are TONS of apple geniuses there...just about 1:1 -1.5 ratio of genius to customer so the customer service there is great! though they are titled "geniuses" they still have to say "let me go back there and let me check it out for you" instead of knowing it right off the top of there heads. I even had to inform one of them that apple was releasing the new headphones with and integrated mic for the ipods...he kept thinking i was referring to the iphone but guess he didnt no.
all in all the store is great! its a lot closer to my house than king of prussia, the customer service is great and the staff is always willing to offer advice and help. you're never more than 5-7ft from an apple genius.
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