And thus does AtAT's gradual transformation into "The Apple Retail Show" march ever forward; after yesterday's iffy hint at a Buffalo-area store opening this Saturday (which has since turned back into a pumpkin-- expect that store later in the month), Apple saw fit to tweak their retail page again. Faithful viewer Ben Snitkoff noted that the "Coming Soon" slot is starting to get mighty crowded these days; at some point yesterday, Palo Alto and Saddle Creek were joined by yet another location preparing for an imminent onslaught of Mac geeks: the Crossgates Mall in Albany, New York. So that's three in the on-deck circle. Does anyone get the feeling that Apple is trying really hard to achieve maximum coverage in time for the holiday shopping season?

As for the all-important factor of when these places are opening their doors, we already knew that Palo Alto is slated for this coming Saturday, the 6th. Dates aren't provided for the other two locations-- at least, not directly. But as faithful viewer JoEL points out, yesterday Apple threw two new graphics into its ever-shifting "Hot News" rotation-- and if we can assume that they're correct, then Albany will be transformed into Macville one week later on the 13th. So all you Mac-loving Albanians (um, wait-- that can't be right) should circle your calendars; we here in the AtAT staff were hoping to attend, but unfortunately on that day we're going to be on entirely the wrong continent.

The real news, however, is that Apple has apparently finally settled its long-running signage dispute with the Germantown Design Review Commission, because the Saddle Creek store is now also slated to open on October 13th. We've got a couple of tips for those of you planning on attending the Memphis-area grand opening. First of all, set out early and make sure you've got good directions, because you sure as heck can't count on a brightly-lit Apple logo to guide your way. And secondly, don't get too attached to that date; the opening's been postponed once already (Hot News originally said it was happen on September 29th), and for all we know, at some point in the next ten days Germantown will suddenly decide that all store signs must be made entirely out of wet hair. (We're very interested to see what the sign really does look like, actually.)

Provided the Germantown store does finally open on the 13th, then we'll have ourselves the first simultaneous two-store grand opening since last May, when the two pilot stores were overrun by foaming-at-the-mouth Mac users desperate for free t-shirts and a retail shopping experience less reminiscent of being stabbed in the kidneys. As we suggested previously, if you consider yourself a Mac fan's Mac fan, your task is clear: find a way to attend both grand openings on the same day. C'mon, how hard can it be to get from Memphis to Albany?