Apple enthusiasts line up for Brisbane CBD store opening At the front of the queue were (l-r) West End's John McGregor, first in line Andris Triev, Californian Gary Allen and Woodford's Natasha Bremner and Quinlan Van Nuen. Photo: Kim Stephens The first in line came 14 hours before the opening. The second, not far behind him, came from California. Apple enthusiasts are certainly a dedicated lot. Shoppers line up outside Brisbane's new Apple store ahead of its opening. Perhaps none more so than Gary Allen, from the Californian university town Berkeley, who has attended 38 Apple store openings worldwide. He came to Brisbane with just one purpose: to be one of the first through the doors of the tech giant's first CBD store when it opened at 10am Friday. "I'm an Apple store enthusiast and interested in the the design and architecture of Apple stores," he said. Crowds gather outside the Apple store. So when I heard this one was going to be in a heritage store, I knew I had to be here when it opened. Apple has undertaken a painstaking internal restoration of Edward Street's historic MacArthur Chambers to open its first city store. Mr Allen, who has attended store openings in China, England, France, Germany, as well as previous Australian openings, said it was one of the few Apple shops worldwide to occupy a heritage space. The queue outside the Brisbane CBD Apple store. "Apple needs to find the perfect store and it can take a long time to find it," he said. In addition to its design and heritage value, however, Mr Allen said a large part of the experience in queuing for the openings was the people he met in line. First to form the queue on Thursday evening was Brisbane 23-year-old Andris Triev, who had been awake for 26 hours by the time the 10am opening ticked over. The Apple fans were well prepared for the wait for the new store to open. "The best thing about a store opening and launch is you get to line-up with others with the same interests," he said. Within a couple of hours, Mr Triev was joined by Mr Allen and West End's John McGregor, and then Woodford's Quinlan Van Nunen and Natasha Bremner arrived. A handful more followed at 1.30am, though the vast majority began arriving about 6am, Mr Triev said. "The vibe has been very special," he said. There's also that great vibe of being one of the first in the store. Oh, and the free t-shirt. The first 1000 customers inside the store received a complimentary Apple t-shirt. Interestingly, most of those in the queue had no intention of purchasing any Apple products. Mr McGregor, the third in line, arrived at 9.30pm Thursday. "I came by at 6.30pm and saw nobody, then I came back at 9.30pm and saw a couple of people here," he said. I knew then I was going to have a good night. We've all struck up some great conversations.