Written by: Thomas Ryefield
Despite the hype for Apple’s iPhone 5, local AT&T stores had only six phones on launch day.
Customers arrived early at the small AT&T stores on West Bryan Street and in the Oglethorpe Mall to get their hands on the iPhone 5, but it only took three hours for both stores to sell out.
“The store opens at 10 a.m. and we had people coming in at 9:15 to 9:20 a.m.,” said Herschell Jackson, an employee of the West Bryan Street AT&T store.
The store sold out of phones by 10:45 a.m., and Jackson said that about 27 customers came in wanting the phone. The kiosk at the Oglethorpe Mall had around 50 disappointed customers leave without a phone.
Employees of both stores told customers to go to larger retailers, but even the stock at Mall Boulevard’s store was empty in two hours.
When asked if any customers had camped out in front of the West Bryan Street store, Jackson said, “Surprisingly, no. No campers. At least not at our location. I’m pretty sure there were a bunch of campers anywhere else.”
Atlanta stores were asked about their iPhone 5 sales, but declined to comment.
“We can only answer general questions about the phone,” said an AT&T employee in Atlanta.
The availability of the iPhone 5 remains unknown, since AT&T stores cannot disclose sales information.
Customers have been placed on waiting lists to be called up when new shipments arrive. But since shipment dates are also unknown, AT&T users could be waiting weeks to get an iPhone 5.
Internet shoppers who pre-ordered directly through Apple’s online store can expect their phones to arrive around the middle or end of October. Apple gave stores like Target, RadioShack, Verizon and AT&T a three- to four-week period to sell their stock before shipping pre-orders.
Jeffrey DeVincent, a proud iPhone 5 owner, described how he got ahold of his phone, “I did pre-orders everywhere (Verizon and RadioShack) until the first one came in, and then I cancelled everything.”
The only aspect of the iPhone 5 that most customers can seem to grasp now are accessories. Priscilla Garcia of Cellairis, a company that creates cases and add-ons for cell phones, said that the Oglethorpe Mall had anywhere from 70 – 80 cases for the iPhone 5 as of Sept. 23.
