[solofx7]

which is a better place to stand a better chance of getting an iPhone since i have been waiting forever for one...
i would have no problem prepaying for one right now, but since no one is doing that it appears that i am doomed to the "lines"

[::maroma::]

According to Arianna Huffington, Steve told her personally that you will have a better experience/chance at an iPhone at an AT&T store. He predicts the Apple Stores will be mad chaos. I tend to agree, but I'll probably check out the Apple Store first, and if the line is too long I'll try my AT&T store.

[Lava Lamp Freak]

According to the AT&T site, there are no corporate owned stores in Nashville. Therefore, I have no choice but to go to the Apple Store.

[butterfly0fdoom]

The local corporate AT&T store is closer to where I live than the local Apple store. I'll be trying it before I buy it, though, so hopefully they have a demo model.

[icruise]

How do you tell if a store is corporate-owned or not?

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by icruise 

How do you tell if a store is corporate-owned or not?

That's what I want to know. I have two "Cingular" stores near me. Both say "Authorized Agent" and only carry Cingular stuff. I'm wondering if those are corporate-owned or not.

[Krusty]

Originally Posted by icruise 

How do you tell if a store is corporate-owned or not?

Not completely sure but I know that in my town there are at least 15 Cingular stores within a 10 mile radius of me but only 3 are corporate owned (most are some sort of franchise operation). The only obvious difference I've seen is that the corporate-owned store is open on Sundays for a few hrs where none of the others are. I couldn't tell otherwise and only found out when I had some obscure questions and they referred me to the corporate store for answers.

If you have Google Earth, you can get an overlay of corporate stores as a plug-in though that seems a little time consuming. Maybe just call one of your local stores, ask them about the iPhone, and see if they refer you to a local corporate store. http://www.wireless.att.com/google_earth

[edit]
OK, scratch the above. I found a store locator and the corporate stores are labelled as "CINGULAR WIRELESS" while the rest have a franchise name or say "Cingular Wireless Authorized Agent"
AT&T
[/edit]

[::maroma::]

If you go on the ATT site and look for stores located near you, the list comes up with what looks like 2 basic types. Stores that simply say "Cingular Wireless" (looks like they haven't changed the names of the stores quite yet) and ones that say "Cingular Wireless - Authorized Retailer".

I called one of each of those stores and it seems that the ones that say "Cingular Wireless" (without the "Authorized Retailer") are the Corporate owned stores.

Looks like there are about 5 of those stores within 10 miles of me. And there are 2 Apple Stores as well. I should be in good shape come the 29th. <crosses fingers>

EDIT: Damn, Krusty beat me to it!

[Mrjinglesusa]

Thanks guys - that seems to be the case. Unfortunately, the ones near me are all "Authorized Retailers".

[Lava Lamp Freak]

Strange. Yesterday there was a website saying that corp stores showed up as "Cingular Wireless Corporate Store" in the store locator, and they even had a screenshot. I have several stores that say "Cingular Wireless" so maybe I do have a chance at some other stores if the Apple Store sells out.

[tasslehawf]

Theres an Apple store three miles from my house it two opposite directions (Glendale and Pasadena) and Cingular stores across the street from both stores.

I'm worried that both places are going to be busy due to the areas. Also I wonder if Apple store employees will be pointing people to either of the Cing stores if supplies run out or it gets too crazy. I'd drive to an out of the way Cing store if I thought there was a better chance....

[icruise]

Interesting. It looks like there's only one corporate store within 50 miles of me. Luckily, it happens to be in a convenient location only 5 or 6 miles from my house.