You’ll be stuck behind a lot of promoters when you line up for the iPhone 5.
There was a time when waiting in line for Apple’s latest iPhone meant you were a diehard fan who could think of nothing worse than not getting the device on launch day. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case: Lines have already started forming for the iPhone 5 outside of Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, but the first two people in the queue are not diehard Apple fans.
Instead, they are there simply to promote their own products or services.
It seems the refurbishment to Apple’s Fifth Avenue retail store in New York City may have been a practice run for something a little more elaborate. Take a look at the picture above; that’s a new Apple retail store that’s coming to France and it’ll be almost entirely transparent.
Apple’s new retail store set in the heart of New York’s Grand Central station is set to open its doors next week, according to a report from the New York Post. And thanks to Apple’s infamous negotiation skills, the Cupertino company paid peanuts for the lease.
Apple’s iPhone 4S is one of the hottest smartphones available right now, spawning lengthy launch-day queues outside of Apple stores all over the world. In Hong Kong, where the device goes on sale in just a few hours’ time, police have been called to settle violent fights that broke out with a group of South Asian “professional queuers” who attempted to push their way to the front of the line.
Apple’s retail stores are famous for their wow-factor, with the iconic glass cube above the Fifth Avenue store in New York City, the rooftop gardens atop the Boylston Street store in Boston, Massachusetts, and the glass cylinder that leads into the Pundong store in Shanghai.
But there could soon be another store to add to our list of the weirdest and most interesting Apple stores on Earth, with plans of a huge new store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica that features a breathtaking glass roof.