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Recently, I went to New York City on a business trip. I ended up staying a few days, so I took the opportunity to go check out the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. And believe me, it was worth it.

Going In

The first thing I noticed was, well, the entrance. The store itself is under ground, but you enter it from the street above. The stairs and the elevator leading down from 5th Avenue are covered by a gigantic glass box, which you can see from several blocks away. There’s an Apple logo floating in there too, so I immediately knew it was an Apple Store. Here’s a visual:

And the best part of it is, when you drive by at night, the Apple logo is lit up, and illuminates the entire glass box around it. It looks so cool! I don’t have a picture of that, but check it out sometime if you get the chance. Even if you don’t have time to go into the store, drive by it when it’s dark out and you’ll know what I mean.

So anyway, I walked up to the entrance after getting out of the cab. An Apple Genius was there to greet everybody, but I was too excited to really notice. As I was going down the stairs, I could already see the hundreds of people down there. And when I say hundreds, I aint kiddin’! The store was packed! I got yelled at for it, but I managed to take a 360 degree video shot of the store. I only had my little digital camera with me, so it’s not great quality. But you’ll get the idea… loud and crowded.

Being Inside

I walked around for what seemed like hours, checking stuff out. I played with the new iPhones for a while, looked at all the different kinds of iPods, and picked out some cool accessories. But what I really wanted to do was take a look at the new MacBooks. I had to wait a while; every single one was being used. When some guy finally left his spot, I threw myself on the Mac like a little kid on a fresh pile of freshly-baked cookies. And man, I loved it! I bought a MacBook Pro a while back, but the latest updates have made them even better. At the Apple Store, I was sitting in front of the screen of a 17” MacBook Pro… I swear I left the store drooling!

The other thing I noticed was the length of the lines at the cash registers. People were waiting there, holding an iMac, an iPhone, a couple of accessories, and so forth. I think I counted five lines or something like that, and each one stretched all the way to the staircase in the center of the store. When I thought about it, I realized that at that rate, Apple must be selling a hundred Macs a day, easily. And that’s only one store! I know there’s another Apple Store in Manhattan. Imagine what kind of profit that’s gotta be bringing in!

Overall, the store was great. The Apple geniuses were very helpful; I got all my questions answered, even though there was such a huge crowd in there. The products were amazing; there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t want to buy! And the entire store, despite the fact that millions of people walk in and out of there every day, was very clean and neatly organized.

Leaving The Store

It was hard to leave the store, considering this is the first Apple Store I’ve been to. Before now I’ve always ordered online… it seemed easier to me. But it was definitely a great experience. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit lots of other Apple Stores, so I can review those too.

The Verdict

One of the best stores I’ve ever been in, computer-related or not. I give it: 5 out of 5!

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About The Author

Stuart Wagner

Stuart is a professional web designer, developer, and photographer living in Ithaca, NY, USA. He enjoys web and graphic design, and blogging about Apple on his Mac. When he is not behind a computer screen, you will find Stuart around town or in the country, taking pictures of anything interesting he can find. He also travels frequently, either throughout the United States, or to Europe. For updates on his travel, and for general entertainment, follow Stuart on Twitter (@stuartwagner)