May 17, 2024 - Business
The first Apple store opened 23 years ago in Tysons Corner
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Twenty-three years ago this Sunday, Apple opened its first-ever retail store — our very own local one at the Tysons Corner Center mall.
The intrigue: Steve Jobs first built a prototype of the minimalist store at a secret warehouse in Cupertino, California.
- The concept debuted in Tysons at 10am Eastern time, three hours before Apple's second store in Glendale, California.
- 500 people lined up as early as 4am at Tysons. You can watch Jobs unveil the space.
Fun fact: Jobs insisted Apple open stores in shopping malls, unlike other computer makers that sought lower rents in less popular venues.
- "If they walk past our store, they will enter out of curiosity if we make it inviting enough, and then when we get the chance to show them our products, we will win," Jobs said, per Walter Isaacson's biography.
