ABQ Uptown Grand Opening
November 3, 2006
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Shoppers Lined Up Hours Before the Grand Opening
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Sierra
November 2, 2006
Hunt Building Corporation
(915) 533-1122
By Susan Stiger
Journal Staff Writer
In some ways, our shiny new ABQ Uptown is like the downtowns of the '50s and '60s. Storefront after storefront lined up along wide streets with no roof overhead, no din, no teen scene, but cars that slow or even stop as you cross the street, and onstreet parking.
Until you get anywhere near the Apple store, where you find the present, the future and— at Wednesday's ABQ Uptown grand opening— history in the making. Like a rock concert or a sporting event, Apple attracts a cult following. Yes, there were geeks. And moms and designers and teachers and photographers and regular folks in a chatty line staying warm in the cool shade of the morning.
The computer store drew people from as far away as Clovis, as early as Tuesday night at 8:30. And as creative as Rory McGuire, No 2. in line, who had arrived at 10:15 Tuesday evening, carrying a pumpkin with the Apple logo carved into it. He and No. 1, Kelly Robinson, strangers up to that point, had spent the night— bundled, blanketed and awake by the light of McGuire's pumpkin— happily greeting the 5:30 a.m. opening of Starbucks down the street. (One went for coffee; the other held their coveted places, the honor of being Nos. 1 and 2 still 41/2 hours into the future.)
After the sun came up, Robinson and McGuire began to get company. A hundred, 200, 350, the estimates just kept growing, until the line doubled back on itself and 1,000 seemed like a safe bet.
But there were other attractions for store openings to come at 10 a.m. Ann Sharpe waved a dismissive hand at the growing Apple line and peered into the Ann Taylor Loft.
"My husband gave me a shopping spree for my birthday," she said, turning her eye toward the Coldwater Creek store.
Pottery Barn, a cluster of fans waiting outside, glistened with Christmas trees, ornaments, candles and glass hurricanes amid the picture frames, sofa pillows, dishes and decor. Time to stop living inside the catalog, shoppers, and head for the real thing.
About 15 minutes before Apple opened— somebody was thinking— the dignitary/red ribbon/giant scissors/thank-the-big-players event took place near tables offering free Starbucks coffee, doughnuts and waters. The biggest smiles were on the faces of people remembering when the corner of Louisiana and Indian School was a dirt lot full of weeds and signs reminding movers and shakers it could be so much more.
And so it is. And so Mayor Martin Chávez had this to say:"This is infill of the highest magnitude," he said. "It raises the bar for Albuquerque."
But even he wasn't as happy as Gary Zimmerman, who found a 20-percent-off J.A. Henckels paring knife at a packed Williams-Sonoma store, not to mention samples of the store's pumpkin bread with its pumpkin butter on top.
"He does most of the cooking," said an even happier Sherry Zimmerman, Gary's wife.
In Coldwater Creek, Margaret Maestas had her eye on a turquoise sweater and scarf set. But she was pacing herself for the whole door-to-door-to-door extravaganza.
"This reminds me of Borgata in Scottsdale," she said. Her reference to the Arizona shopping place would please developers, retailers and government types tired of seeing New Mexico money collecting frequent flyer miles.
"I'm not really shopping for Christmas," Maestas said. "I am personally treating myself."
That's the spirit, Margaret.
But for pure zeal, you couldn't beat the long-awaited opening of Apple.
At 10 a.m., a couple of dozen black-T-shirt-clad Apple employees formed two lines inside the doors to greet the first hundred customers with whoops, high-fives and applause, applause. It was furious fanfare, with a beaming Robinson first through the door, eager to play with all the test-drive-ready toys waiting inside.
About Hunt
Hunt Building Corporation was founded in 1947. For over 36 years, Hunt Building has been one of the nation’s leading builders of military family housing for all branches of the U.S. armed services. Today, Hunt Building Corporation and its affiliated companies, Hunt Building Company, Hunt Development Group, Hunt Communities, HBC Property Managers, Hunt ELP, and Hunt NR, provide a full range of development, design, construction, investment, and asset/property management services. The company has been headquartered in El Paso and operated by the Hunt family for four generations.
Shoppers Lined Up Hours Before the Grand Opening
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Sierra
November 2, 2006
Hunt Building Corporation
(915) 533-1122
By Susan Stiger
Journal Staff Writer
In some ways, our shiny new ABQ Uptown is like the downtowns of the '50s and '60s. Storefront after storefront lined up along wide streets with no roof overhead, no din, no teen scene, but cars that slow or even stop as you cross the street, and onstreet parking.
Until you get anywhere near the Apple store, where you find the present, the future and— at Wednesday's ABQ Uptown grand opening— history in the making. Like a rock concert or a sporting event, Apple attracts a cult following. Yes, there were geeks. And moms and designers and teachers and photographers and regular folks in a chatty line staying warm in the cool shade of the morning.
The computer store drew people from as far away as Clovis, as early as Tuesday night at 8:30. And as creative as Rory McGuire, No 2. in line, who had arrived at 10:15 Tuesday evening, carrying a pumpkin with the Apple logo carved into it. He and No. 1, Kelly Robinson, strangers up to that point, had spent the night— bundled, blanketed and awake by the light of McGuire's pumpkin— happily greeting the 5:30 a.m. opening of Starbucks down the street. (One went for coffee; the other held their coveted places, the honor of being Nos. 1 and 2 still 41/2 hours into the future.)
After the sun came up, Robinson and McGuire began to get company. A hundred, 200, 350, the estimates just kept growing, until the line doubled back on itself and 1,000 seemed like a safe bet.
But there were other attractions for store openings to come at 10 a.m. Ann Sharpe waved a dismissive hand at the growing Apple line and peered into the Ann Taylor Loft.
"My husband gave me a shopping spree for my birthday," she said, turning her eye toward the Coldwater Creek store.
Pottery Barn, a cluster of fans waiting outside, glistened with Christmas trees, ornaments, candles and glass hurricanes amid the picture frames, sofa pillows, dishes and decor. Time to stop living inside the catalog, shoppers, and head for the real thing.
About 15 minutes before Apple opened— somebody was thinking— the dignitary/red ribbon/giant scissors/thank-the-big-players event took place near tables offering free Starbucks coffee, doughnuts and waters. The biggest smiles were on the faces of people remembering when the corner of Louisiana and Indian School was a dirt lot full of weeds and signs reminding movers and shakers it could be so much more.
And so it is. And so Mayor Martin Chávez had this to say:"This is infill of the highest magnitude," he said. "It raises the bar for Albuquerque."
But even he wasn't as happy as Gary Zimmerman, who found a 20-percent-off J.A. Henckels paring knife at a packed Williams-Sonoma store, not to mention samples of the store's pumpkin bread with its pumpkin butter on top.
"He does most of the cooking," said an even happier Sherry Zimmerman, Gary's wife.
In Coldwater Creek, Margaret Maestas had her eye on a turquoise sweater and scarf set. But she was pacing herself for the whole door-to-door-to-door extravaganza.
"This reminds me of Borgata in Scottsdale," she said. Her reference to the Arizona shopping place would please developers, retailers and government types tired of seeing New Mexico money collecting frequent flyer miles.
"I'm not really shopping for Christmas," Maestas said. "I am personally treating myself."
That's the spirit, Margaret.
But for pure zeal, you couldn't beat the long-awaited opening of Apple.
At 10 a.m., a couple of dozen black-T-shirt-clad Apple employees formed two lines inside the doors to greet the first hundred customers with whoops, high-fives and applause, applause. It was furious fanfare, with a beaming Robinson first through the door, eager to play with all the test-drive-ready toys waiting inside.
About Hunt
Hunt Building Corporation was founded in 1947. For over 36 years, Hunt Building has been one of the nation’s leading builders of military family housing for all branches of the U.S. armed services. Today, Hunt Building Corporation and its affiliated companies, Hunt Building Company, Hunt Development Group, Hunt Communities, HBC Property Managers, Hunt ELP, and Hunt NR, provide a full range of development, design, construction, investment, and asset/property management services. The company has been headquartered in El Paso and operated by the Hunt family for four generations.