Austin is getting a LEGO store. (Creedmoor, Cool)

[10scoachrick]

'd still rather have a Trader Joe's.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by atxcio

It's right next door to the uber hip Apple store, too. That section of the Barton Creek mall is doing pretty well... I guess the overall mall is too, compared to its competitors.

I used to work part-time at Barton Creek Mall when I was in my early 20's. Don't live in Austin now, but I still just LOVE the city!!! So happy when I get to visit!

[jobert]

I checked it out due to sheer curiosity and was really impressed. The place was packed. I like the brightly painted panels dropped from the ceiling with the six light fixtures in the middle (to represent a lego piece) - it was a nice touch. The only problem was the lack of vents in this area with such a large volume of people standing under it, so there were floor fans running to compensate. The products were fantastic, too. Legos have come a long way since I was a kid - now they have moving parts, hinges, themes, and accessories. To add to the insanity, there is an Apple store two doors down just as packed, yet there was the White House/Black Market store between them that didn't have a single customer. Go figure.

[eileenkeeney]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

'd still rather have a Trader Joe's.

I want both.
Trader Joes has more useful stuff, but the Lego store has more fun stuff.
Between the two, I could meet most of my shopping needs.

[austinnerd]

Went to the Lego store this weekend with the kiddos. As has been reported by others it was packed. They had a line outside the store and were only letting people in as people were leaving. The temporary AC units are still setup inside since apparently the normal ac can't handle the # of people (likely the Apple Store being so near doesn't make it any easier for the mall folk to get adequate AC for that area). The store itself is pretty cool, if quite "cozy". It's nice having such a large selection of kits all in one place as well as a source of misc parts. The one "must see" is the virtual kit display. You bring up one of the supporting kits and stand in front of a monitor, the computer driving the monitor senses which kit you have (I assume using rfid) and actually shows you a 3D display of the kit on the screen superimposed on the box that you're holding. As you move the box around, the 3D display changes as well, seriously cool.

I assume things will calm down a bit in a few weeks once school gets going again (at least during the week, it may be worse on the weekend), but I personally am happy it's here and now have one more weapon in the "positive reinforcement" arsenal. Now if they would just open a larger one in the Domain, that'd be perfect (similar to the path that the Apple Store took).

[zhugeliang1]

We were among the first 300 in line on Sunday! Got this cool t-shirt with Lego bats flying over Congress Bridge, funny coincidence was we actually did go see the (non-Lego) bats over Congress Bridge the night before.

[ausguy]

Yeah, I saw that line this weekend on the way to another store. My first thought was, you can buy anything you want at the Lego store online...why on earth would anyone stand in that line??? It's a nice addition to the mall though!

[car957]

I don't want it. Its all good in South Austin.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by ausguy

Yeah, I saw that line this weekend on the way to another store. My first thought was, you can buy anything you want at the Lego store online...why on earth would anyone stand in that line??? It's a nice addition to the mall though!

It was the grand opening celebration with giveaways. The kids got to help build a human-sized Buzz Lightyear out in the mall. I think that brought a lot of people in and then after that they all went up to the store and they had to use lines to control the crowds coming in. We've been several times since the soft opening and the only other time there was any kind of a line was for the mini-build last Tuesday night. Otherwise, the store is typically crowded but there are no lines to get in.

[eileenkeeney]

Something that would be awesome and useful, would be if those who visited the store, posted back and let us know what useful pieces were available on the wall (which will change over time, so updated posts are always good).
Then I would know if it was worth the 2 hour (each way) bus ride.
Right now I need Orange 2x2 and 2x4 and 2x2 slopes (which I can find but not as cheap as filling one of those Lego Store buckets).
Soon I will need Blue 2x2, 2x4 (any size that fits well on top of Duplo), and especially the transparent blues.
I am always looking for pink, basic bricks (and not at the price I would have to pay for the pink bucket that also contains many pieces I do not need).