Apple fans already queuing outside London's Regent Street Store

When the Apple store opened in Japan, customers queued for over 2 hours in a tempest to experience the opening.

19 November 2004 19:34 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The Apple store may not open for another 15 hours, but as we write this story, people are already setting up tents on Regent Street, so they will be one of the first to enter the store when it opens its doors tomorrow morning.

The store will be the first to open in the UK although Apple has already announced that it is planning on opening two further stores in the UK in the first half of 2005. Those will be in Bluewater, Kent and Birmingham.

The queues may be forming because Apple has promised the first 300 people the chance to buy a £250 goodie bag containing contents worth over £750 (keep your eye on eBay if you can't get to London).

When the Apple store opened in Japan, customers queued for over 2 hours in a tempest to experience the opening.

In a veiled attempt to build even more excitement, Apple as said that it does have some iPod's but obviously not enough to cope with the torrent of people looking to buy one, a strategy we hope will not be repeated at Xmas, given the new lease and rent they'll be paying.