Apple Watch launch in Paris greeted with long line at Colette
Apple is introducing its new Watch across a limited number countries today, but only a few stores will have the device available for sale. Among that short list is Colette, a fashion boutique just a few blocks from Apple's own retail store at Carrousel, beneath the Louvre.
By 10 a.m., more than 150 people were lined up at Colette, forming a queue around the corner and nearly all the way down to the Tuileries gardens. The line didn't start moving until 11 a.m.
It did however attract lots of attention, and at times snarl traffic along Rue Saint-Honor? as curious onlookers and media blocked sidewalks and walked out into the narrow streets. Paris police were also on the scene, armed with automatic weapons.
Shortly after the first customers entered the store, the first buyer -- a young man named Teddy, living in Paris -- emerged with a Colette bag and was immediately accosted by media cameras and boom mics. He told me he'd chosen the 42mm Apple Watch Sport with a black band.
It's not yet clear how many more customers will leave this store with the Watch model they wanted. As the line grew, a young English man pulled open the door of his car, then signaled his driver to proceed to another location because "this line is too long."
Waiting in line for an Apple Watch in Paris today is a major sacrifice, given that today is probably the last sunny day in a long stretch of beautiful weather. The forecast through the weekend and much of next week is rainy.
Unseasonably warm weather has turned the city into a spring time paradise of flowers and leafed out trees, and turned lawns into sunbathing meccas stretching from Place Des Vosges to Parc Du Champ De Mars at the Eiffel Tower. That hasn't dampened interest for waiting in line to be among the first to wear Apple Watch in a city known for its appreciation for fashion and design.
In addition to Colette, Apple is also taking orders for Apple Watch at its own iconic stores in Paris, including Carrousel du Louvre, just a short walk through the Tuileries and under the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which faced the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre that inverts into the Carrousel to illuminate the Apple Store itself, and throw bands of rainbows around the store.
Apple also has a second Parisian retail store in a dramatic setting within a renovated former bank at Op?ra. Apple Watch is also being shown at a dedicated boutique within the Galeries Lafayette rotunda just one block from its Op?ra store. However, it appears that none of these stores have any inventory for buyers to immediately take home.
Apple retail stores and a few select high end retailers have been hosting Apple Watch fittings for customers for a week now, allowing them to try on light-weight aluminum Sport models or the standard stainless steel, test driving the variety of bands and two watch face sizes that all go on sale today.
The complexity of selling a brand new product with so many personalized options has forced Apple to push the vast majority of orders online, rather than attempting to stock in-store inventories. The company hopes to take what it learns from this complex launch to further refine its sophisticated inventory management operations.
By 10 a.m., more than 150 people were lined up at Colette, forming a queue around the corner and nearly all the way down to the Tuileries gardens. The line didn't start moving until 11 a.m.
It did however attract lots of attention, and at times snarl traffic along Rue Saint-Honor? as curious onlookers and media blocked sidewalks and walked out into the narrow streets. Paris police were also on the scene, armed with automatic weapons.
Shortly after the first customers entered the store, the first buyer -- a young man named Teddy, living in Paris -- emerged with a Colette bag and was immediately accosted by media cameras and boom mics. He told me he'd chosen the 42mm Apple Watch Sport with a black band.
It's not yet clear how many more customers will leave this store with the Watch model they wanted. As the line grew, a young English man pulled open the door of his car, then signaled his driver to proceed to another location because "this line is too long."
Waiting in line for an Apple Watch in Paris today is a major sacrifice, given that today is probably the last sunny day in a long stretch of beautiful weather. The forecast through the weekend and much of next week is rainy.
Unseasonably warm weather has turned the city into a spring time paradise of flowers and leafed out trees, and turned lawns into sunbathing meccas stretching from Place Des Vosges to Parc Du Champ De Mars at the Eiffel Tower. That hasn't dampened interest for waiting in line to be among the first to wear Apple Watch in a city known for its appreciation for fashion and design.
In addition to Colette, Apple is also taking orders for Apple Watch at its own iconic stores in Paris, including Carrousel du Louvre, just a short walk through the Tuileries and under the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which faced the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre that inverts into the Carrousel to illuminate the Apple Store itself, and throw bands of rainbows around the store.
Apple also has a second Parisian retail store in a dramatic setting within a renovated former bank at Op?ra. Apple Watch is also being shown at a dedicated boutique within the Galeries Lafayette rotunda just one block from its Op?ra store. However, it appears that none of these stores have any inventory for buyers to immediately take home.
Apple retail stores and a few select high end retailers have been hosting Apple Watch fittings for customers for a week now, allowing them to try on light-weight aluminum Sport models or the standard stainless steel, test driving the variety of bands and two watch face sizes that all go on sale today.
The complexity of selling a brand new product with so many personalized options has forced Apple to push the vast majority of orders online, rather than attempting to stock in-store inventories. The company hopes to take what it learns from this complex launch to further refine its sophisticated inventory management operations.
Comments
Even when they're not lining up AT Apple, they're lining up FOR Apple.
Daniel, you might have missed the Charlie Hebdo tragedy, but the automatic weapons were a response to that, not due to the Apple Watch....
I got my orders in 2 minutes after the pre-orders opened. Both (a stainless steel and a sport version) arrived this morning.
I'm happy - and I didn't have to go to Paris and stand in a line
The article simply states the police were there with automatic weapons, it drew no conclusion as to why. You seem to have read that into the piece. I see no reason for the snarky comment, especially when it was such a tragedy you refer to.
Line at Dover Street Market in London (from the Verge)
He didn't explain the police weapons as due to the Watch.
Impossible. That is in the UK. Have you seen the naysaying that gets posted from that place in these forums? You'd think they'd all be standing in line for a new Microsoft fitness band: it's cheaper and more Microsoft.
'That place' certainly has a collective, almost institutional anti-Apple attitude I agree, but please don't ignore the massive number of very pro and loyal Apple folks that live there too. I should know having owned several large Apple Dealerships over there.
And my watch, confirmed at 3 after 3 am on the 10th, is still 'processing.'
WTF Apple?
(no, it's not either of the the elusive black models, or an Edition)
'That place' certainly has a collective, almost institutional anti-Apple attitude I agree,
Especially BBC and The Guardians.
I first experienced the former after they released the BBC Micro ... suddenly all Apple ][s were bad news. What a shock eh? :no:
BTW you cut off the most important part of my post in your quote above.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
...
...
Anyone else find that box to be quite large? I expected a small cube shaped box.
Anyone else find that box to be quite large? I expected a small cube shaped box.
That long box is for the Sport models.
The Edition have square boxes.
I don't know about the silver one (why call it Watch??).
Won't the box depend on the strap type? The leather and sport bands would be flat but the link bracelet was unboxed attached to a cylinder.
Does Dilger work for Apple or one of it's affiliates?
Won't the box depend on the strap type? The leather and sport bands would be flat but the link bracelet was unboxed attached to a cylinder.
"Most" watches are sold with the straps in the "as worn" position.
Watch haters have been particularly quite as of late. I guess Brlawyer must be at the corner diner stuffing his face with a really large slice of humble pie with his boy-toy BF. Surely he was a legend in his own mind.
The stainless steel with white band ships in a (roughly) square box. I can attest to this personally.