Business & Tech

Mac Fans Head to Freehold Raceway Mall for Verizon iPhone

The mall opened its doors at 5:30 a.m. for those who wanted to wait on line.

The Freehold Raceway Mall opened its doors at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday for customers eager to get in line for the new Verizon iPhone 4. The iPhone had been exclusively available on the AT&T network until today.

"I've been waiting for a Verizon iPhone for awhile. I wasn't too crazy about AT&T dropped calls," said Freehold resident Tony Urti, who waited outside the Apple Store before its 7 a.m. opening.

While previous iPhone launches saw lines snaking around the interior of the mall, only 10 people were waiting at the Verizon store and nine at the Apple Store before they opened to the public. The lack of an early morning crowd didn’t detract from the buying experience for those who came.

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“Part of the whole excitement of getting one is being here,” said Anthony Carbone, of Morganville. Carbone arrived at the Apple Store at 5:20 a.m. to purchase his second Verizon iPhone. He received his first phone on Wednesday after ordering it online from Verizon. The second phone will go to Carbone’s wife.

“I’m a total Mac junkie,” Carbone said. “I couldn’t wait for it to come out.”

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At the Verizon store, Millstone resident Nicole Miller and Freehold resident Jessica Capobianco joined Stephanie Reichman, also of Freehold, as she purchased her new iPhone.

“I thought it would be a big line,” Miller said. She didn’t regret arriving at 5:30 a.m. though. “It was an adventure.”

Capobianco said she came on the shopping trip to see if she might want her own Verizon iPhone in the future. “I’ll probably get one. You want to try to be the first ones to get it,” she said.

Some customers, expecting long lines, arrived well before the mall open. Ross Marchitto, of Freehold, was in the parking lot at 4 a.m. and Howell resident Bruce Grossman came at 3:30 a.m. Marchitto joked that he might have waited a few more hours if he had known he wouldn’t be competing with morning crowds.

“I’ve been waiting for it forever,” Marchitto said. “It’s just fun to get up and get a Verizon iPhone. Everyone’s going to want one once they start seeing them around.”


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