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Grand Central Terminal Packed for Apple Retail Store Opening

Spoony said:
haha love it. It's definitley a Terminal. and yes tourists call it a station.

Beyonce calls it Grand Central Station in that Lady Gaga song Telephone. always Annoys me. Trains "Terminate" here. This is the last stop. This is not a station.
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That's not the first song to refer to this it as station. From Whitney Houston's My Love is Your Love:

"If I loose my fame and fortune... And I'm homeless on the street... And I'm sleeping in Grand Central station... it's ok, if you're sleeping with me"

I heard people refer to it either way...
 
How things have changed

I live in Northern VA and can remember going to the first Apple store in Tyson's Corner not long after it opened. The store was almost empty. Only people that had a Mac were there. Some people were there to quench their curiosity about Apple products but that store and others that opened later were almost ghost towns. I remember wondering how much money they must be losing on those stores then. It was obvious that Apple had little market share. To see how their stores have changed in just maybe 5 years is stunning. So, for us old timers that remember when, going to such a grand opening would be an interesting experience. And to some of us, just milling around taking in the atmosphere, talking to other similarly minded idiots is enjoyable.
 
I just want to say that people will line up for things they enjoy. Whether that be concert, or cheap laptop or apple product, people line up for hours to get their stuff. It's all same idea.(sporting event as well).

So there, nothing odd about lining up.
 
Quite an Amazing Store

It's quite an amazing store. Have you seen this video offering the full tour? And yes, I know it's like other Apple stores--they're all selling the same products and services, but the scale is quite grand :cool:

As for why go to a store as to a concert--for the same reason one goes to the openings of any store be it toy store or sporting goods store or a particular type of clothing store. You want to be with others who share a passion that you happen to have for certain things. We're social animals, and we don't just like "things" we like sharing those things with others.

As for people not having anything else to do...you do know this is the time to shop for presents, right? Maybe this is what they have to do. Certainly there are some there who may want that teeshirt as a gift as much as they may want iPods for gifts.

And even if they're just there to be there, it's not sad, it's not strange, it's not embarrassing, and no, it's not like lemmings either; it not anything but human nature. It's why we gather in churches and coffee shops. We go to places where we can hang with like-minded others; where we can feel festive, even on a low scale like a store opening rather than a high scale like a carnival. And the only sad or embarrassing thing is when others call it "sad" as if this isn't something they'd ever do. Don't throw stones in glass houses--or some day you may find yourself in line at a store opening or to get someone's autograph, and, while visiting some website on your phone, you'll read the same words you're saying today about yourself.
 
Tonewheel said:
What's in that particular store that you can't see, experience or buy at any other Apple Store? It must simply be about the "being there" experience.
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Same reason people wait in line to go see a re-release of a movie.

Tiger8 said:
New Yorkers can handle busy crowd very well, they navigate between them to their train / subway / street.
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Elbows! If you don't have any you can't cope with any NYC crowd. If you want to see bad go to Rockerfeller Center during the Holidays and if you work in that area and don't pack your lunch then you really need the lunch HOUR.

Moyank24 said:
Some of those people have to be commuters who got caught up in the Apple Worship.
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9:30 AM is the start of slow commuter traffic and more shoppers and tourists.

richardk32 said:
Commuters are well adept ... Most never pass through this level of the terminal during their commute, heading directly to their subway or bus connection or the street.
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Bingo. I travel through GC during rush hour about 2 - 4 times a month and I haven't seen the main area in years.

kazmac said:
Hopefully it won't be this packed at peak times.
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It's always like this during rush hour on the holidays. Worst time will be Dec 23rd at 2:30pm

justjohn025 said:
What do the shirts look like that they hand out?
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just like the $14.99 target t-shirts with letters

Vertigo50 said:
This is kind of sad... Come back in two days and you can check out the entire store at a leisurely pace, without a bunch of neck beards cluttering up the place.
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No! Come back in Feb 2012 to be able to walk into the store. GC will be packed until the holidays are over. This is the same as the people who wait over night to get concert tix, Harry Potter books, twilight movies or re-screening of a previous released movie.
 
Monkey194545 said:
Looks like they all took a break from occupying wall st.....:p
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Unlikely, as all the Occupy people I know buy at thrift stores. Their Apple products, if they have them, are used or hand-me-downs, given to them for free because they don't have jobs and can barely afford food to feed their families or a place to live, let alone a new iPod or iPhone.

How many Occupy people do you know? :confused:
 
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Tonewheel said:
I don't get it, but then again I'm a tad older than that crowd.

What's in that particular store that you can't see, experience or buy at any other Apple Store? It must simply be about the "being there" experience.
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I passed by at 11:30 last night. The third guy camping out in line had to be in his 60's with a "I'm a Mac geek" tshirt on.
 
Sora said:
For the younger kids in the crowd i'll keep it PG13.
You can read as many books as you like about copulation, but until you actually copulate, you have no idea what the experience is like.

You need to be there to really understand.
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What is this copulation, of which you speak? I wish to understand.
 
Traffic for Other Stores

After seeing this, one has to wonder if the other tenants do not see the benefit of Apple being there. Bet the NY State inquiry into the real estate deal will not get very far.
 
errr... I just realized, what happens when they close? Isn't the store completely open? Do they have to move all of the products to a back room after closing every time?
 
I think you may be a tad out of touch ;)

thirteen1031 said:
Unlikely, as all the Occupy people I know buy at thrift stores. Their Apple products, if they have them, are used or hand-me-downs, given to them for free because they don't have jobs and can barely afford food to feed their families or a place to live, let alone a new iPod or iPhone.

How many Occupy people do you know? :confused:
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-16-2011/occupy-wall-street-divided

Looks like lots of Apple at Occupy Wall Street!
 
argh

I've commuted through Grand Central and if the LIRR starts providing service through the East Side Access project, I will again.

Given that prospect, I'm not thrilled by the Apple Store being there. Grand Central is crowded enough. It's probably great for the other stores in the terminal but as far as sheer crowd sizes, it's just going to get worse.

And if the store is constantly as crowded as the Fifth Ave store, it will be hellish to visit. I guess the atmosphere will be pleasing if you're looking up at the ceiling.

Sorry. I know there are a lot of Apple die hards on here. But there are plenty of places to put a retail store. Dropping this kind of craziness in a commuter section because it achieves some kind of iconic status doesn't justify the effect it has one everyone else. If this were the only place to buy Apple, then fine.
 
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Agree, mate.
 
So, all of those 4000 people bought something or were they for freaking T-shirts that they will sell them for outrageous prices on ebay?
 
scotth23 said:
I've commuted through Grand Central and if the LIRR starts providing service through the East Side Access project, I will again.

Given that prospect, I'm not thrilled by the Apple Store being there. Grand Central is crowded enough. It's probably great for the other stores in the terminal but as far as sheer crowd sizes, it's just going to get worse.

And if the store is constantly as crowded as the Fifth Ave store, it will be hellish to visit. I guess the atmosphere will be pleasing if you're looking up at the ceiling.

Sorry. I know there are a lot of Apple die hards on here. But there are plenty of places to put a retail store. Dropping this kind of craziness in a commuter section because it achieves some kind of iconic status doesn't justify the effect it has one everyone else. If this were the only place to buy Apple, then fine.
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ha.. i got down voted for saying the same thing.. some of you fanatics just can't sympathize for the commuters just because we're not praising apple here. i'm assuming that the people that did.. don't live in NYC and use the GCT. you have no idea how ridiculous that place is already.. apple putting a store there will just make it even more of a nightmare. it's hard enough to even be in the lower level and find seating. i bet you the food court area will have a bunch more people sitting on the floor now. christmas commute will be hell.
 
This "crowd" was likely 90% of the giant train station's customers going to/from the station. The remaining 10% are the folks who actually showed up to go to the Apple store.

Grand Central is "packed" 365 days a year....especially 6am-10pm.

Undoubtedly Apple will receive a gigantic amount of foot traffic at this location...forever.
 
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