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Finding Love and Romance at the Apple Store is Becoming as Common as Looking for New Music on iTunes

By A. David Cooper
September 2005

In a recent survey, MacDirectory uncovered a unique revelation about Apple stores. A secret was revealed, and a sub-cultural shift was illuminated. In short, a new discovery was made. Since Apple introduced its first store in 2001, the MacDirectory team has observed that many Apple Stores across the country have become a primary hook-up spot for singles looking to meet other similarly enlightened Mac users. Why is this significant? Well, to put it frankly, Apple is expanding its brand to social environments, something that computer companies have tried for decades, only to fail--until now. When was the last time a computer store was anything but a geek magnet for anti-social dudes who cower in the basement? Never has a computer store actually fostered romance. But as with many things, Apple has come across with yet another first – the computer store singles scene!

When questioned about their preference for trolling the Apple Store for romance, one female visitor told the reporter, “…If you talk to a guy in the Apple Store, you already know he's going to be modern and up-to-date and sober. It's healthier than picking up someone in a bar.” Another shopper commented, “People in here glance at each other just like they do in a bar. It's not a problem to open a conversation because you know everyone has similar interests.” These kinds of comments actually make a lot of sense.

It was Carrie Bradshaw of HBO’s “Sex And The City” (a former MacDirectory cover girl) who first introduced many New York single women to the Apple computer via her Wall Street model Apple PowerBook. The hipness of Apple was further soldered into the minds of New York single women when Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) actually went to the legendary Mac repair shop, Tekserve, to get her computer fixed. Couple the Carrie Bradshaw factor with the meteor-like rise of the iPod to cool status around the world, and it no longer becomes a mystery as to why Apple Stores might be the place to find someone cute, intelligent and Mac-friendly to make a connection with.

Even though the hit show “Sex And The City” has officially ended, the show’s main character remains an icon of dating and sexual politics for millions around the world. And while there are many Carrie Bradshaw wanna-be’s living in New York, there is really only one woman who can confidently say she is living exactly the same life as the famed character. Amy Sohn is New York’s top relationship columnist ever since she started her "Female Trouble" column in New York Press. Since then she’s gone on to publish books entitled “Run Catch Kiss,” the New York Times best-selling “Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell” (Pocket Books), and her latest book “My Old Man” (Simon & Schuster). Sohn also has the distinction of being a Mac Switcher. She describes her past Windows posture as, “Elitist. I was a PC person for about 20 years before I switched over.” But once she was introduced to the Mac, even she couldn’t deny its charm, and now considers the Mac, “Smart, incredibly aesthetic, neat and creative.”

Few can decipher the ups and downs of the modern digitally enhanced era of dating better than Sohn. When asked why the Soho Apple Store has become the new hot spot, she says, “Any hookup spot that is not an obvious hookup spot works well, because people are less on guard and can interact in a more real, relaxed way. Also it is a well-lit environment, and it seems these days the dark bar hookup scene has lost its allure - no one likes waking up next to someone and then realizing they are unattractive. The Apple Store attracts bright, self-motivated, somewhat nerdy people who are in creative careers. And it feels a little like a college campus, with the lecture area, and the Genius Bar. It's sort of a cafeteria, store and lecture hall all rolled into one.”
Despite the fact that the very aura of Apple is enough to inspire cool people to mingle, many, like Sohn, would also argue that it is the much talked about architecture and layout of the Apple Stores that act as a primary lubricant for social interactions. The Apple Store in Soho is a prime example. From the Genius Bar, to the upstairs theater, to the reading area, to numerous areas of flat panel Macs offering free Internet access, the store is almost designed from its very DNA to be a social melting pot.

As the foundation of the store, Steve Jobs selected a 1920s neo-classical, two-story building built by Thomas Lamb on New York's Prince Street, a structure that was formerly the area’s central post office. Construction began in February 2002 on the 18,000-square-foot store led by a design team that included Peter Bohlin and architect Ronnette Riley. Of the initial design, Bohlin has said, “It [had to] be somewhat ethereal, it [had to] be rather delicate and not overpower the products. And here, we knew we were not just dealing with one store, but setting a pattern for other stores.”

Indeed, the Soho store has set the gold standard for the other Apple Stores around the country, but no other store is as breath taking. Primary among the store’s romantic components is its vaunted glass stair, a structure that would be the envy of any would-be Cinderella.

The 15-foot-high staircase is made of low-iron, laminated glass stair sidewalls, balustrade panels, acid-etched diamond-plate treads for safety and stainless steel fittings. And, situated just above the magical staircase, you will find a 70-foot-long skylight that is composed of 12 custom-fritted 8-by-12-foot glass panels, stainless-steel frames, kingpost and tensile rod fittings. For couples who truly want to experience the dizzying heights of the store in a private, yet no less romantic way, there is a 15-by-6-foot glass bridge on the second floor that connects both sides of the store. The structure is not just a retail space; it is an area where imagination abounds. And where imagination abounds, so too does romance.

The trend in Soho is not just growing on its own, but is helped along by various events that are held in the store’s upstairs theater. One of the biggest blogger events held in New York in 2004 was the New York City Bloggers Event, which allowed various luminaries from the blog world to yammer on about the state of the blogosphere. But while the blowhards on the podium were attempting to revive the tech boom with digital hyperbole, this writer could personally see dozens of patrons paying more attention to each other (i.e. checking each other out, hubba, hubba) than the speakers. If there was any doubt that there would be some checking out, that was dispelled by that fact that curiously, most of the people at the event were dressed rather fetchingly (not the common after work gear you’d expect). Even then, the Apple Store was a known pick-up spot. Often you will see the aftermath of an Apple Store event leading throngs of visitors to go in groups to local bars and lounges to continue in earnest the flirtations and conversations that began in more sedate confines.

This kind of phenomenon supports the idea that meeting people via technology is beginning to lose some of its negative connotations. “The stigma around on-line dating is definitely diminishing as more and more people are meeting their life partners that way,” says Sohn. “But at the same time its allure is wearing off - people are looking for more intimate, face to face ways of meeting because so many have been burned by bad on-line dating experiences, where the on-line chemistry was great and then the in-person chemistry was nonexistent.”

Adding to the sexy singles nature of the Apple Store are the workers themselves. Decked out in black Apple logo t-shirts and jeans, a la Steve Jobs, it seems that Apple Store hires not only based on Apple computer expertise, but on cute factor. Almost every time you visit an Apple store, you will find at least one customer chatting up a worker far beyond the limits of simple “how does this computer work” banter. Clearly many young Apple Store workers are becoming mini-tech-rock stars in their own right.

Looking into the crystal ball of the tech future is not something Sohn is asked to do a lot, but as the dating world becomes more computer-focused, predictions have to be made. Of the future, Sohn says, “On-line dating is here to stay but I predict it is going to get more and more specialized, to the point where those only trolling for sex can find others trolling for sex. And those looking for long-term love can find others looking for long-term love. Now the problem is that everyone is at cross-purposes, and no one knows what anyone's true motivations are. Divorced men lie about it, Gentiles are on Jdate [a Jewish dating site], women alter their weight, men lie about their hair, and many, many people put outdated pictures up. This leads to devastation and frustration. Soon people will learn that it does not work. I know a guy who showed up on a date with what he thought was a very attractive woman. She turned out to be obese and had used a stock photo. He was mad, but too nice to show it. I hope people like this woman learn that they are only hurting themselves. Besides, there are so many fetish sites for men interested in Big, Beautiful Women that all she needed to do was go on one of those!” Sounds like Sohn has the right idea, so we should all get ready for the Mac Fetish Dating site. We know it’s out there somewhere!

www.apple.com/retail/soho
www.amysohn.com