City’s Apple Store opening draws fans from near and far

For many Apple fans, such as Patrick Guerrero, trekking to the latest Apple Store opening has become a custom, of sorts.

They’re like a group of old friends who meet up every few months, only to stand in long lines across New England and beyond, everyone proudly adorned with an Apple T-shirt from a previous store opening and sharing in the same excitement for Apple’s newest outpost.

“When you start to recognize people from other store openings, you can start to call it a tradition,” said Guerrero, 24, who traveled from Lawrence, Mass., and was among the first in line at the Apple Store grand opening at the Pheasant Lane Mall on Saturday.

The store is the second in New Hampshire, with the other location at the Rockingham Park Mall in Salem.

For those who do make the trek, there isn’t much reason behind it beyond one: It’s just exciting to say you were there for the opening, said Arthur Page, 27, who traveled from Portland, Maine.

Encouraging people to behave this way – to line up – is smart on Apple’s part, Page added. “It helps build brand loyalty,” he said.

By 10 a.m., the line extended well past the adjacent Itz a Puzzle store, snaking its way around past the entrance to Macy’s. As the doors opened to thumping music and Apple associates’ high-fives, eager customers filed in 10 at time, pocketing or immediately donning their black T’s with the words “Pheasant Lane” screenprinted across the front.

The 400-square-foot store may look familiar to some customers, featuring the familiar glass panel exterior, white walls and stripped down wooden tables. While there isn’t a three-story glass spiral staircase, the likes of which can be found at Apple’s flagship Back Bay location in Boston, the Pheasant Lane Mall store does feature 70 touch points consisting of enough iPods, MacBooks and iPhones to suit even the most diehard Apple users.

“We built this store to really start to serve that Merrimack Valley and Nashua customer,” said general manager Dan Meece, who has worked with Apple for 21⁄2 years and was on hand for both the Back Bay and Natick, Mass. openings.

“We thought the time was right time to add this second store in New Hampshire.”

The arrival fills a Nashua area void left when MacEdge, a long-running independent store that focused on Apple products, closed in late August. For years, MacEdge was located on Daniel Webster Highway a few miles north of the mall. It moved to a new location last year and closed during the summer. The company said it needed to “consolidate operations” into its Portsmouth store.

Meece believes his store will be supported by a strong customer base, but he wasn’t convinced that the location just north of the Massachusetts border would be a big draw simply because of tax-free shopping.

“We’re are really looking to establish a great customer base here, not from just a sales perspective,” he said. “Half our store is dedicated to customers who already own our product and are looking for service.”

That customer service will be doled out by the approximately 70 employees that were hired, all of whom are permanent and go through extensive training, Meece said.

“Typically, our employees are training months out at a time,” he said. This is especially the case for those who work at the Genius Bar, Apple’s in-store technical support center, who are trained specifically on how to use each of Apple’s devices. In its first hour of business, the store had already surpassed 500 visitors, with a long line still waiting to get in, according to Meece. Inside, Sarah McCaigue, of Brookline, browsed with her son Collin, 7, who was transfixed by a game on an iPod Touch.

“We have an iPod Touch at home, and I wanted to learn how I could get the best use out of it,” McCaigue said.

“My 7-year-old uses it smoothly; the mom, not so much,” she said with a laugh.

However, not everyone was swept up by the hype. John Folger sat on a brick planter near Target with his friend Kaitlin Willis. The pair, both from Nashua, had come to the mall simply to browse, and expressed little interest in joining the ranks of Apple enthusiasts.

“I actually try and steer clear of Apple,” said Folger, a computer programmer.

Folger explained that after watching his friends struggle with what he believes were unreliable products, he has chosen to stick with PCs, preferring the freedom and customization they offer.

Associates at other mall stores were excited to have Apple on board.

“Some of my friends said it wouldn’t do much to boost business, but I think it will,” said Wren Archer, who mans the Proactiv kiosk in front of the Apple store entrance.

“It’s such a high-profile store,” Archer said. “It will bring in a lot of business. Just look at the line.”