Telstra’s new neighbour, the Apple Store on George Street, Sydney, managed to secure headlines the cast of Big Brother would crawl through green slime in a bikini to achieve… and all this before the store opened its doors to customers at 5pm yesterday.
The iHype reached fever pitch on Wednesday night, iDay eve, when dozens of Apple fans lined up outside the store having unplugged their Segways from the charger, slipped their Sega GameGears into top pocket, and grabbed their iTouch for company as they waited to be one of the first to climb the three floors of the new glass house that is the Apple Store.
This author’s heart skipped a beat when led through the glass doors for the first time and into the 215th Apple Store worldwide. For try as we might, few of us are immune to Apple’s charm. I, for one, happily shelled out the full RRP to buy a replacement iPod when my former died just one week out of warranty. I also came very close to succumbing to my housemate’s desire to purchase an iVac (vacuum cleaner) earlier in the year.
Even from the view at the Telstra offices at 400 George Street, the Apple Store is striking. And behind the full glass panels and giant Apple logo that crowns the store are three levels of Apple wizardry.
Up the grand glass staircase to the top floor you’ll find the Genius Bar, which, just like [My]Place at the T[life]™ stores, is a place where customers can learn about the products and ask the tough questions. In my case it was advice on how to sort out the thousands of duplicate songs in the iTunes library.
Of course the Apple Store is also a new neighbour to our first T[life]™ store in Sydney and its launch cements this part of town as the city’s new technology and communications hub.
It also means there are now two iconic stores within 10 metres of each other which is great news for Australian shoppers looking to experience the very latest advances in technology and, perhaps, help improve their lives.
So no doubt the corner of George and King Streets will be a whole lot busier as customers move from one icon store to another. It has us wondering though, who will be the first to welcome who – and will there be apple pie involved?
Oh and before flooding www.nowwearetalking.com.au with questions about Telstra and the 3G iPhone… all we can say is watch this space.
Photography by Alex Heathers, Level 2 - 400 George Street, Sydney.