And here I thought I’d attended my last Apple Store Grand Opening three years ago. I remember going to a particular store opening in early 2004, my fifth or sixth one, and thinking that I’d done it one time too many. Sure, everyone there was having fun, but that was because this was something new to them, and for me it was just one big element of sameness. It requires a level of irrational exuberance to have fun at a computer store, and after having been to so many of them, the fun just wasn’t there anymore. So I decided that was probably going to be my last opening, unless something really big and unique came along.
That big and unique something was going to be the Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan a few months ago, and I had all but made up my mind to fly up there for its opening until I discovered that I was going to be in Los Angeles at the time. So crossing Fifth Avenue off my list, I figured that was the end of the list. But then the long-rumored South Beach store in Miami was suddenly no longer a rumor, and just as suddenly, I was on my way to cover its Grand Opening with full media credentials. I expected it to be productive, reportable, fruitful. But for reasons I can’t quite identify, it also ended up being something else: fun.
I’m not sure if it was the fact that it’s been two and a half years since I’ve been to an opening, or maybe the new viewpoint (standing on the inside of the store and watching the first customer come through the doors is a whole new experience), or maybe it was just the fact that everything that happens in South Beach is just a little left of center, but this particular Grand Opening was downright enjoyable. Granted, the red carpet they rolled out for me didn’t hurt. But there was an openness here that you don’t necessarily see even when you’re credentialed. When the highest ranking employee in the building is telling you to take as many pictures as you want, and then the various store employees are almost begging to be in those pictures, mugging for the camera, you can’t help but enjoy what you’re doing.
I spotted a guy in the store wearing a Napster T-shirt, and I laughed so hard at the sight that I nearly had tears running down my face. Got an interview with him too. Saw a kid who might have been eight years old listening to a display iPod nano, desperately hoped to get my camera turned on and pointed in the right direction before the kid moved, and just nailed the shot before he did. Met the Wizards of Technology podcasters in the store, never realized they were locals. Ran into a lot of people I knew there, some of whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time, some of whom I knew but had never met in person. Met a lot of new people as well.
Main thing was, though, I got my story.
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