Tag: store

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Greensboro Joins the Cult of Mac

After several false starts, months (even years) of waiting, and disputes with their retail neighbors, the new Greensboro Apple Store finally opened this past weekend. Although I’ve done my fair share of waiting in line for openings, this time things were a bit different. The level of excitement and enthusiasm as we stood in line Saturday morning was surreal. We arrived a little after 7am and were about 20 people from the front of the line. We came prepared and dressed in layers to keep warm.

The morning was spent swapping Mac stories and meeting new people. The day before a group of my friends and I from the Iconfactory stopped by the unopened store and happened to run into a WXII News crew. They had asked us why we were looking forward to having our own Apple Store and we even managed to get in a plug for Twitterrific.

When the moment of truth arrived and the doors finally opened, we were greeted like rock stars courtesy of the whoops and cheers from the store employees. After running down the line and high-fiving over 20 people, I can start to understand why some think Mac users are part of a geeky “cult”. We browsed the hardware, and Talos even ended up becoming the 1st official paying customer in Greensboro. After about 30 minutes we made our way to the exit, went outside and was greeted with our first real glimpse of the true size of the line waiting to get in. Checking out the photo essay from the News & Record it’s easy to see just how many people had come for the opening. Absolutely incredible.

While the store opening itself was a wonderful and throughly geeky experience, I’m more gratified to finally have a place locally where I’ll be able to go and purchase new Apple hardware, learn new software and have repairs made. The staff at the Apple store are always on call to help users with any need and I plan to avail myself of their hospitality every chance I get. From all of us, to all of you, welcome to Greensboro, Apple!

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Greensboro Apple Store Opening Set

According to an unofficial announcement in the News & Record, the date for the opening of the Greensboro Apple Store has been set as Sat., February 21st. The new Apple store at the Shops at Friendly Center is reported to be North Carolina’s largest and promises to be a Mecca for Apple fans across the triad. All this is conjecture of course since there has been no official word from the Apple retail website.

Center hours are from 10am – 6pm on Saturdays, so I think it’s safe to assume the new store will open at 10am that day. I and a bunch of the guys from work will definitely be attending the opening so perhaps we’ll see you there. Just watch for the gaggle of geeks wearing the Iconfactory t-shirts. Just one more week folks!

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Greensboro Apple Store Update

Yep, it’s still there and it’s still being worked on. The only visible difference on the facade of the future home of the Greensboro Apple Store is the corporate logo and URL that’s been added in the past week. My friends Anthony, Louie and David managed to sneak a peek inside when nobody was looking and reported that the Genius Bar logo is on the wall, and the interior is coming along. They said it seemed “big”, but I’m dubious since there’s no displays, shelves, etc yet.

At any rate, if the word on the street is true, hopefully sometime in February we’ll have a new place to go and buy shiny new Apple hardware in Greensboro. All of us at the Iconfactory can hardly wait. You can be sure we’ll be right there in the front of the line when the store opens. If you want to see the latest pictures of the store, head over to my Flickr page for some pictures that no one but Apple junkies would find thrilling.

UPDATE: A little bird, no not that one, told me that the Greensboro Apple store should be done and open by Valentine’s Day. Keeping my finger’s crossed!

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Greensboro Apple Store Update

Back at the end of July I took a picture of what I was sure was the future home of the new Greensboro Apple Store. Unlike my first guess, I was sure this time I had the actual location of the retail space and submitted it to The Unoffical Apple Weblog. The fine TUAW folks indulged my Jimmy Olsen fantasies and posted the picture to the cheers of Triad Apple fans. Unfortunately, last week Talos found out that the store in the picture will in fact be a new William Sonoma and not the Apple Store. So much for that Pulitzer Prize I was gunning for. Now comes this video from Greensboro WXII News 12 stating that the Greensboro Apple Store is indeed delayed until February of 2009. A major bummer to be sure, but if what the reporter in the piece is saying is true, then we have a good reason for the delay. I’ll take a larger Apple Store if it means we have to wait a bit longer. Must. Be. Patient.

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What of Frenzic?

The launch of Apple’s App Store was one of those moments that developers live for. After weeks of coding, designing, testing, tweaking and debating, Twitterrific for the iPhone and iPod touch was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews. All of us at the Iconfactory, especially the big guy in Laguna, are all gratified that users seem genuinely happy with Twitterrific for the iPhone. Apple’s handheld hardware is a wonderful new development platform that’s bound to get better with time, and we were pleased to be present at launch.

However, throughout this whirlwind day, I kept receiving emails about another of our software products and why it wasn’t included in the App Store kick-off. That application of course, was Frenzic. More than a year ago, I posted on my blog asking users to write Apple in support of bringing a native version of our addictive Mac-based game to the iPhone. You showed your support for our efforts to bring the best possible version of Frenzic to the iPhone, and now thanks in-part to users like yourself, that native version is becoming a reality.

I’m here to tell you that Frenzic is definitely coming to Apple’s handheld party. Some of Craig’s coding buddies got an early sneak peek of Frenzic at WWDC, and it’s only gotten better since then. The mobile version of Frenzic is confirming my suspicions that this is how the game was always meant to be played. Placing pieces is fast, responsive and fun as all get out. There is a tactile sense of immediacy when playing Frenzic on the iPhone or touch that simply isn’t present in the desktop version. We still have tons of work to do, but trust me when I tell you it’ll be worth the wait.

In a way, I’m glad Frenzic wasn’t ready for today’s App Store launch. There are already tons of great games available for the iPhone. Pangea’s Enigmo and SEGA’s Super Monkey Ball both come to mind. Frenzic’s day will come, and when it does, all of us at ARTIS Software and the Iconfactory hope you’ll give it a try. The Mac desktop version’s slogan has always been “Addiction never felt so right.” Thanks to the App Store and iPhone, I think players everywhere are about to get addicted all over again. For now, hang tight and hone those reflexes. You’re gonna need it!

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Greensboro Gets a Slice of Apple

While we patiently wait for the new Apple Store to open at the Shops At Friendly Center here in Greensboro, a small bit of placation has appeared in the meantime. Yesterday when I walked into the Best Buy off of Stanely Road, low and behold part of the formerly all Windows PC section had been ripped out and replaced with an ultra-mini Apple Store. Right where Toshiba laptops, Dell desktops and other Microsoft loving hardware had stood was the familiar spartan trappings of Steve Jobs’ retail store. It was like the Borg had sliced out a 15×20 foot section of the Southpoint Apple Store in Raleigh, and transplanted it directly into the middle of Best Buy, carpeting and all.

While a surreal experience, it was great to finally see someplace in Greensboro where Apple products can be purchased. Since we lost our local CompUSA back in December, if you wanted to pick up a new MacBook or iMac, you had to make the trek to Raleigh or Charlotte. The inclusion of Apple goods in Best Buy is an impressive about face for two companies that have not always been on the best of terms. I think mini-stores like this one in Greensboro are a testament to Apple’s growing popularity and the strength of the brand. No matter what caused it, I’m just glad to see a tiny bit of Apple in Greensboro once again. Maybe now I can stop driving over to Friendly once a week to check on any signs of life. Nah!