SMALL ADDENDUM: This same post earlier said the city's first year take of $175,000 would be a big help to cash-strapped coffers. That of course is a fairly loose guess and not based on any Apple-provided sales estimates. And, on further review, that money will help the city but not that much. A recent SR story said the city has a $12 million budget hole to fill.

Of course we're still excited about the opening of Spokane's first Apple retail store this Saturday, at 10 a.m.

Not because of the 1,000 free T-shirts. We're hoping the Apple cash registers start popping genormous numbers and the end result will be a hefty injection of new state sales tax dollars into city, and county, coffers.

A city official said the Spokane store, on a likely projection, will generate $175,000 per year in sales tax revenue for the city. Considering how strapped the city is, that's a big help.

We're adding this link to a YouTube video of last weekend's Apple store opening in Turin, Italy. About 700 people were in line when it opened.

Points to note:  the Apple store staff go out of their way to be overly helpful, especially on Day One.

And, of those in line, easily 85 percent are males. So, be forewarned if you get in the queue before Saturday's 10 a.m. opening. Be sure to have your conversational gambits all-guy, all the time. The checklist: sports, "Battlestar Galactica," "Community," and the reasons why you don't much care for the Kindle... You might also comment about how it's nice to see the ladies come out for the event, as well.

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