Attention fellow Bostonians/Chicagoans: we have semi-credible opening dates for the remaining two newly announced Apple retail stores. Yesterday we mentioned that MacMinute had pegged the Plano, TX store for an August 3rd launch, with the Minneapolis one following on the 11th. Well, as pointed out by faithful viewer David Poller, not long after we broadcast yesterday's episode, MacMinute also reported that the store at the Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, IL (that's the northwest 'burbs to you Chicago city-dwellers) will go live on August 25th. So you're basically looking at a month-long wait at this point, but heck, things could be lots worse.

Or even just a little worse. Three of these things belong together, three of these things are kind of the same... but of the four new Apple stores that Steve announced last week, only the Boston-area Peabody location (in other words, the one that your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff would be frequenting) is lacking a MacMinute-reported opening date. So we had to take matters in our own hands and try to find out for ourselves-- with the help of our trusty Magic 8-Ball. We shook it while concentrating hard and intoning, "Oh Mystical Orb, when will the Apple store at the Northshore Mall in Peabody be open for business?" When we inverted the ball and looked at the answer, it read, "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO OPEN ON AUGUST 25TH, BUT IT WON'T BE READY IN TIME; TRY BETWEEN AUGUST 30TH AND SEPTEMBER 1ST, INSTEAD." (It's amazing how much text they can cram onto that little white triangle these days.)

Now, everybody knows that Magic 8-Balls are wantonly capricious when it comes to predicting the future with any degree of accuracy, but this answer was specific enough that we're willing to put a bit of faith in it. That's sort of a shame, really, because it means that we won't get to visit our local Apple store until just before (or even just after) Steve's "opening in August" deadline expires. On the other hand, it does mean that the AtAT staff just might be able to attend two grand openings; we have tentative plans to be in Chicago on August 25th, and back in Boston before the 30th. So if these rumored/divinely imparted opening dates are correct and everything falls into place, with luck, we'll be all retailed out come early September.

For those of you who have forgotten what all the fuss is about, may we recommend a certain Los Angeles Times Syndicate article that renewed our own enthusiasm? Basically the author decided to shop for a Mac three different ways: at small local dealers, at big Mac-selling chain stores, and at the Apple store in Glendale. The results aren't terribly surprising, but they are exciting: she makes the Apple store sound like heaven on earth for computer shoppers willing to think a little differently. Credit cards at the ready!