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Continuing plans for expanding its nationwide network of retail stores, Apple Computer opened its second Apple Store in Miami-Dade county, at Aventura Mall. Hundreds of Macintosh enthusiasts lined up to be among the first to shop at the new store, the sixth Apple store in the state of Florida.
 Gold Coast Mac representatives were in the crowd which formed more than an hour before the scheduled 10 AM opening, handing out brochures promoting the group and answering questions about both Gold Coast Mac and the new store.
This is the first store which conveniently serves residents of both Northern Miami-Dade and Southern Broward counties, and it was mostly people from those areas who lined up for the official opening. As people waited for the doors to open,they could hear store employees clapping and cheering inside preparing for their first customers, who were lined up over 200 strong along the second floor concourse of the mall.
In an Apple Store opening tradition, manager Tom Summers welcomed the crowd, which then passed through a gauntlet of cheering, clapping employees to enter the store. The Aventura store is considerably different from Miami-Dade’s first Apple store, located in The Falls. It is somewhat smaller, roughly half the size of The Falls store, and does not include such Apple Store standards as a Theatre.
Because of the size, the selection of third party software in stock is also smaller than at The Falls store, but it still carries a full line of Apple hardware and software, and still offers popular features like the Genius Bar. The store also has large flat panel video displays which can substitute for some of the features of the missing Theatre. Apple officials present at the store opening say the smaller size is part of a new Apple Store plan for certain stores located in areas where mall store space is at a premium.
Gold Coast Mac representatives were welcomed into the store by manager Tom Summers on the opening day to provide extra help for customers. Summers is a familiar face for Gold Coast Mac members, as he was the inaugural manager at The Falls, and also presided over the opening of stores in Wellington and Boca Raton. Summers had most recently been assigned to manage Apple’s new Chicago Flagship store, but says he asked to return to South Florida, a move not surprising given the bone chilling cold in Chicago this winter.
In addition to the South Florida stores, Apple has a store in Tampa and Orlando, and is said to be planning a store in Jacksonville. Florida has the third highest number of Apple Stores in the nation, after New York with 7, and California with 18.
February 2004
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