Dawn at the Louvre
On Saturday, Apple opened their first retail store in France. The store is located in the Carrousel du Louvre, a high-end shopping mall below the the Louvre museum's glass pyramid.
Some estimated the line to enter the Apple Store to be around one mile long. For those who showed up at 8 am, there was a three-hour wait to enter the store.
Apple teamed up with a nearby Starbucks to distribute free coffee to those waiting outside in the chilly November air.
The mall opened at 6:30 am to let in people who spent the night waiting outside. Inside the mall, the line stretched another hundred yards to the Apple Store itself.
The entrance to the Apple Store is just opposite this inverted glass pyramid, which marks the center of the shopping mall. As one Parisian pointed out, few locals visit this mall, which is more likely to attract the tourists who come to see the masterpieces in the Louvre.
Some of the Apple Store's 150 employees made occasional forays outside the store to cheer on those waiting on line, chanting, "Paris, Paris."
Inside the 7,500 sq. ft. store, crowds milled around, checking out iPhones, iPods, and Macs. More people seemed to be looking than buying.
Apple's first French Genius Bar employees were happy to start their new jobs. Not many people were lining up for their services... yet.
Hours after the Apple Store's opening, hundreds of people were still waiting in line to get their first glimpse of the new store.
Apple employees were handing out freebies to the first 5,000 visitors to the new store. Inside the pyramid-shaped boxes were special Apple t-shirts.
Mac Desktops
Smartphones
Cameras
Camcorders
Mac Laptops
iPad & Tablets
HDTV
Networking & Wireless
iPods
iPhone Apps
Printers
Storage
Ad Choices
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