Halifax has never seen anything like it. Hundreds of people lined up to see Apple launch its latest retail store, screaming and clapping, as excited as you would expect people to be on Christmas morning before opening their gifts.

Before today’s opening, the closest Apple retail location to Halifax was just over 900 kilometers away in Quebec City. Obviously, much too far for people to take a casual drive to pick up a new Mac.

The new location will not just serve Halifax and surrounding area, but it will be a draw for Apple users living in the entire Atlantic region. According to Apple, 75 local jobs were created by opening the store here.

Unfortunately for Apple, there was a little hitch with the opening. An early morning power outage caused much of the city to be in darkness until about 10:00 am. The store was scheduled to open at 9:30 am with the rest of the mall.

However, you have to give the team at the store a lot of credit. They went out into the line of people waiting, talking to them about Apple products, where they came from and other topics of interest to the Apple faithful.

Apple employees also went out and bought cases of bottled water, giving everyone waiting in line a little refreshment. With the power being out, there was also no air conditioning.

None of that bothered the people waiting to get into the store though. As the doors opened and the Apple store staff cheered and clapped, the crowd cheered and clapped right back. A very successful opening.