It was freezing this morning as the
Manhasset Long Island, NY Apple store opened for business. Employees wearing T-Shirts (they weren't allowed to wear coats), ran up and down the waiting line of hundreds of people both pumping up the crowd and trying to stay warm. The enthusiasm was contagious as orange shirted people shouted out that the store would be open in 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and then the doors opened to seemingly dozens of Apple workers handing out T-shirts and applauding loudly as each new group of 20 people or so were let in the huge glass doors.
The first 1,000 people were handed black T-shirts that said 'Manhasset' on the front and 'Designed by Apple in California' on the back.
The store is free standing and much larger than the one at the
Walt Whitman Mall, my usual Apple store. The front and back of the store are glass walls and there is plenty of open space. Hopefully this store will take some of the burden off of the other Long Island stores which are usually crowded and have multi-day waits to get an appointment at the Genius Bar.
If you're in the area, check it out at 1900 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alexander Acker said 2:58PM on 10-17-2009
Why bother lining up? For what, a T-shirt? An article? Nicely written piece and the store looks nice but is it worth all that hassle? After all is said and done, it just looks like an Apple Store with all the usual stuff.
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Swimatm said 10:12PM on 10-17-2009
They do it for the experience.
pki730 said 3:28PM on 10-17-2009
I agree only a fool would have lined up. All the smart apple shoppers spent their morning today at either the Roosevelt Field store or the Walt Whitman store which were quiet!
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pki730 said 7:54AM on 10-18-2009
Lining up to enter a store that is idenical to 2 others within a 20 mile radus that have no lines is an "experience"?! Sam is obviously oblivious to football given his comparison! LOL
Joanna D said 3:26PM on 10-17-2009
I find this completely bizarre. The shop doesn't sell anything that isn't available elsewhere and most of its products cost significantly more than from other retailers.
I guess people must really be low on cash if they want free shirt with a corporate logo on it or they've just got nothing clean to wear tomorrow.
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Sam said 2:25AM on 10-18-2009
It's an experience... your logic is like saying "going to a football game is worthless." Why would you pay to go in when you can just watch at the bar next to your house....
Like swimatm said, it's an experience and not really about the practicality of a clean t-shirt.
swimtedswim said 3:53PM on 10-17-2009
ill try this one. the ones in lake grove smithhaven mall are assholes
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jay said 3:25AM on 10-18-2009
@swimtedswim
Really? I've always found the Smithhaven crew to be among the best, and I've been to pretty much every NY store except the big glass cube one (never find myself in that part of town, oddly). Buffalo is pretty good, 14th Street Manhattan is superb, and Smithhaven staff have pretty consistently gone out of their way to help me out. Maybe its that I've spent about 10% of my income there over the past few years and they know it, not really sure.
If it wasn't even further in the other direction (I live right near Whitman) I'd check out this new store. Would have been nice if this article had some actual pictures to see if the architecture was anything interesting on its own.
It's a pretty sad statement, though, that such a large proportion of the favorable comments here are not that people are happy that a new store is close, but that there's an alternative to their familiar store. Were I Apple, I'd see this as a very uncomfortable sign.
:D said 4:18PM on 10-17-2009
The Roosevelt Field store is still much, much closer to me than the Manhasset store. Sometimes I'm in that area though, so I might check it out.
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Rudy said 11:40PM on 10-17-2009
yeah even though i hate going to the roosevelt field store, this is out of way.
J said 4:27PM on 10-17-2009
Does Apple still sell those goodie bags for $50?
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James F said 8:40AM on 10-19-2009
No, sadly they didn't do it. Maybe the recession, or maybe there's so many stores
robogobo said 4:35PM on 10-17-2009
the chanting made me shake my head and laugh.
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Omid said 4:52PM on 10-17-2009
How sad, so sad, it is just the same as any other apple store but it has idiots clapping and jeering stood outside it
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Vijay said 6:45PM on 10-17-2009
I hate how Apple employees are usually douchebags who think they're better than you at everything. It's true all Mac users are snobbish (I have a Mac too -- don't hate).
That's why I hate going into the Apple Store. It doesn't help that I'm 15, and "unaware of what a processor is." [asshole]
That's why I do all of my shopping online.
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Roberto said 11:10AM on 10-18-2009
Maybe it would help if you were not perusing the internet for Mac stuff all the time. This way, maybe the salesman knowledge would be at least a little helpful to you.
nitrous9200 said 7:00PM on 10-17-2009
don't know why the opening of an Apple Store is so grand, they're all exactly the same.
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Jordan said 7:03PM on 10-17-2009
OMG a store oppened up! Let's all rejoice to the heavens because a store opened up somewhere far far away from me! Why report this?
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dschamis said 7:19PM on 10-17-2009
I was there today and had a great time with my two kids. I was the guy in the 'Steve Jobs for President' T-shirt!
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James F said 8:41AM on 10-19-2009
I saw you! Loved the shirt, I hope you don't mind I pointed at you. (I had the cowboy hat and the Walt Whitman Apple shirt)