Apple invades France
The opening of a retail store near the Louvre draws huge crowds in Paris
Photo: Fabio M. Zambelli, setteB.IT
Who says Parisians are blasé? Tout Paris, it seems, turned out Saturday morning for the opening of Apple's (AAPL) first retail outlet in France. The video posted below the fold shows lines of shoppers that stretched for blocks.
Planning for the store, located in the Carrousel du Louvre, an upscale shopping mall beneath the Tuileries garden and adjacent to the museum, began more than two years ago. A second store in Montpelier was actually ready before this one, but its opening was postponed, according to ifoAppleStore, in deference to the City of Lights.
There are several videos of the event, including a four-minute version suggested by reader Rick in San Jose, Calif. But we've selected piratec.net's because it's been edited down to less than two minutes:
For more of Fabio Zambelli's photos of the event, visit setteB.IT.
[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]
maybe the french are happy they have an alternative to the poor performance of windows based computers. i have windows xp on my pc and it sucks. everyone i know has problems with vista. windows 7 will probably suck too since ms relies on its monopoly to force users to test its product.
@Constable Odo said:
"Windows PC people always say that only Steve Jobs butt-kissing jerks stand in line for Apple Retail Store openings. There sure must be a lot of jerks in France."
There sure must be a lot of jerks in France. I mean… it's worth repeating: There sure must be a lot of jerks in France. Awesome phrase.
@Parker
You make it sound like you witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. If attending the opening of an Apple store is the greatest moment of your life, I feel very sorry for you.
Another week another 6 stories on Apple… I'm done with money.cnn.com. Moneycentral doesn't even write about MS products as much and they are owned by them. CNN do something about your tech and money writers…this is ridiculous and I am sick of it. You've lost a long time customer…
I'm not surprised at all. This happens every time when somebody bring something creative and unusual to the market. Remember Wii crowds? Remember Uggs – these cutest boots many snobs complained that they are ugly but kept on buying them anyway in Newman-Marcus?
Apple makes products which are attractive to a large group of consumers, mostly young and creative. Who do not care much about the cost of ownership but rather what they can do with them.
Years ago, people would stand in long lines so they could ride the roller coaster and other rides at amusement parks; each ride could only hold a small number of people at a time.
I have read that many many years ago, maybe it was 35 years ago, that people would stand in long lines just to watch the movie "Exorcist" and since some theaters had multiple showings these people would simply wait for the next showing. Since I grew up in a small town the concept of a line stretching around the block was astounding to me; the longest lines I ever saw were at the football and basketball games for buying tickets.
These days the longest lines are at the University of Texas football stadium, which can hold 90,000 people. I don't go. That's just too many people to have to wait behind.
Maybe Apple is the same way, it's that type of person who likes crowds and long lines. The Me-Too crowd.
Geez, one would think these people were witnessing the Oscars or something.
I've been to an Apple store before, and I don't see what is the big deal. Pretty computers in a sterile, bland place. I would get more and better advice (that is, non-biased and full of arrogance)from a place like MicroCenter (which is staffed by really knowledgeable folks).
It's great to see an American brand doing so well in Paris. And it's not such a big surprise that it is Apple that attracts such crowds. Even if not every single Apple device is a hit, each of them is still designed with users in mind. They're highly functional, easy to use, and stylish. Each of these factors make Apple *the* coveted brand to have.
I don't think that Apple has to worry about accusations of being a monopoly. Apple sells its merchandise at higher prices. Customers can always go to the competition if price is their most important consideration.
I own an older iPod Nano. I had other MP3 players before the Nano. I didn't like and ended up not using the others. Given that I use the Nano all the time, it's the only device that was worth the money.
I was lucky enough to be there. It was in all honestly, perhaps the greatest moment in my life. The energy in the crowd was unbelievable. I was completely swept up, and like many others was so overcome with emotion, tears flowed freely.
I look at all those funny people queuing up for hours to get into an Apple store.
As much as some are surprised by the creativity of Apple, I find myself in equal surprise when I see where consumption-based society bring people.
I have no opinion about Apple's products. I just think iTunes is not great and I do not know other Apple products. But the day I want an iMac, I won't make a party out of it and won't talk to the face of the world "Hey PCs, you jerks, go MAC!"
Just like owning a not-so-different something makes you more right than the guy next door.
This does not surprise me one bit.
I live in Switzerland, and I am constantly surprised by the pervasive presence of the Apple brand. And I never hear about it in the media. That always struck me as odd.
Apple have never really made any effort to project themselves in this country (no apple store until very recently, for example), and yet when the iPhone came out there were substantial numbers of really well made Swiss-centric applications right away.
I suspect that if Apple make a concerted effort to become a global culture, they will evolve in ways that will surprise everyone.
the Russian reaction to Apple is very interesting. Russians look at Apple like it is Alien technology. Russian pride is offended by Apple, because there is no Russian Apple equivalent. Same in China.
Steve Jobs has done more to project US power in the world than anything else over the past 20 years. That is the bottom line.
so wait how many more people were at this one compared to the windows store opening? HAHAHAHA.
Also before you say anything… yes Paris is a big place… but still. Go MAC
Windows PC people always say that only Steve Jobs butt-kissing jerks stand in line for Apple Retail Store openings. There sure must be a lot of jerks in France. That's one heck of an Apple conga line.
I like when Verizon mentioned that people not waiting in line to buy a Droid doesn't mean a thing. Well, I still think Verizon would have wanted a line like this opening to verify there was some demand for the Droid.
I'll bet the Apple NYC Upper West Side Retail Store opening on November 14th is going to draw some huge crowds, too. Apple store openings are getting to be like going to a festival or something. It's just straight up free fun. In a way, it's quite amazing the way people turn out for a free T-shirt and some hand-clapping.
Thanks for great video clip fo grand Apple Artie opening in Paris.
Astonishing, Unbelievable unless you see this clip.
Apple is great company not only for innovative products, great design, mass consumer following as well great stock to own that would reach $300 making money for shareholder in this recession.
I think the French at least in Paris love Apple products. From an american perspective, I've been to Paris quite a lot and see many French people toting their iPhones every where. It's one of the very few American products they look up to and admire.