Keep a tight hold on those hats, folks, because the official word is out: Apple retail stores are a-comin' (we knew that already) and they're a-comin' in droves (that's the new part). Oh, sure, we suspected that Apple was going for fairly heavy coverage, but given the fact that the rumored locations thus far have all been trendy, upscale, touristy, and fairly expensive to lease, we kept wondering whether the analysts who expected no more than ten "showcase" stores were right. But as they so often are, those particular analysts were wrong, wrong, wrong-- because as an early-bird Reuters article reports from Apple's press-only tour of the first store in McLean, Virginia, Steve's retail elves plan to open twenty-five of these things by the end of the year. The invasion begins!

According to Steve, this Saturday will mark the opening of not one, but two Apple stores-- the expected one in McLean, and another in the Glendale Galleria in the Los Angeles area. Geez, what with all the McLean-area Mac fanatics risking death at the mighty hands and truncheons of Mall Security just to sneak blurry digital snapshots of the contents of the Apple store's dumpster ("Look, the construction crew had Wendy's for lunch! What does it all mean?"), we can't help but feel that the L.A. contingent has been slacking off a little. Where are all the covert recon reports about what kind of fast food the L.A. construction workers prefer? Someone's asleep on the job, here.

Meanwhile, as faithful viewer Paul Ferro points out, Apple's web site now has a whole Retail section (complete with photos) urging people to "shop different," while an Apple press release confirms that, as previously noted, each store will indeed be divided into sections. "Home" and "Pro" will showcase the appropriate product lines, as you'd expect. A subdivided "Solutions" area will focus on that whole "digital lifestyle hub" aspect of the Mac, letting customers play with iTunes and iMovie, and stocking "a wide assortment" of third-party PDAs, MP3 players, digital video/still cameras, and the like. The "Genius Bar" confirms a report that we'd first heard weeks ago-- that at all times, each store would have a staff member on duty with the lofty title of "Mac Genius." Get answers to your Mac questions, or just play Stump The Guru; if he or she can't help, there's a "hot line" to Apple HQ waiting as backup. Finally, round out your visit with a trip to the "Theater," where you can watch demos of Apple gear (there's a schedule, just like at the Expos), pick up a few of over three hundred titles in the "Software" section, and grab other peripherals and consumables in "Etc.," the junk drawer of Apple's retail experience.

Whew! There's a lot going on in there; no wonder Apple is leasing such huge spaces. According to MacCentral, the company has confirmed the first fourteen locations, and they're widely as rumored-- although the reference to "Lincoln Park" was new to us, and we're wondering if that is indeed a third Chicagoland location in addition to the Michigan Avenue and Woodfield stores. After the flagship stores open this weekend, the next ones will sprout up in six to eight weeks, and according to Steve, Apple will open a new store "every ten days" thereafter. What we don't know is when that rate will cease; as faithful viewer Mike wonders, does that means we'll have over 3500 Apple stores across the country by the end of the century? It's like some kind of beautiful dream...