Apple Store provides iOpening experience at Polaris

 

 

By Felix Hoover

For Your News Columbus

July 24, 2010

 

 

What started as a low-key gathering at Polaris Fashion Place erupted into an intergenerational pep rally for the opening of the second Apple Store in central Ohio.

 

The store’s 70 employees revved up the long line of customers who patiently lined up about an hour before the 10 a.m. opening at 1500 Polaris Parkway.

 

Blue-shirted staff members created a receiving line, akin to those formed when sports teams are introduced on game night.

Folks on the store’s invitation list knew that free commemorative T-shirts awaited the first 1,000 customers who passed beneath the Apple logo at the entrance.

 

“I’ll probably give mine to my grandsons,” said CJ Fenrick, 77, of Lewis Center.

If there’s a digital divide among users of the latest technology, it’s not because of him and his wife, Cornelia, who bought an iPad.

“She bought the iPad to visit the Internet, so she can look at the children’s pictures,” Mr. Fenrick said. “The iPad is a very visual medium with a very big screen.”

 

One of his older relatives won’t have anything to do with things that are high-tech, but Mr. Fenrick said, “This technology of the iPhone is something like falling off a log.“

 

He’s comfortable with it because he spent 35 years working at NASA, dating to the inception of the space shuttle.

Michael Lacina of Reynoldsburg, 25, was among those in the know and he was in a buying mood.

“I have the first generation of the iPhone and it’s about time to upgrade to the latest model,” said Lacina, a second-year optometry student at Ohio State University.

 

He figured he’d be able to pick up what he wanted without having to wait for it to come by mail.

“We’re crossing our fingers here and hoping we’ll go home with something new and shiny, Lacina said.

Dennis Simiyu of the Northeast Side, with young son Lucas at his side, used his day off from Autorama to be among the early arrivals at Polaris.

 

“We’re going to get an iMac if they have it today,” Simiyu, 35, said.

One to One training sessions for an hour and group sessions for two to three hours give patrons options to help them use the various products available at the store, said Jason Weeman, store leader. One to One memberships usually require purchse of a computer, but for Opening Day, customers could buy a one-year membership for $99, without a computer purchase.

The store offers a family environment in which shoppers are encouraged to try out different products to see what meets their needs and to learn how to best use them.

 

“There's no better way to get set up, get trained, and get going on your new Mac.” Weeman said.

In addition to being the second Apple Store in central Ohio, the other is at Easton, the one at Polaris was one of two that opened today. A ceremony also was held at a new store in Lexington, Ky.

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