TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Bakersfield behaved as Bakersfield does Friday, lining up long before dawn to bite into something "new."

Remember when Krispy Kreme opened in 2000, with more than 150 people waiting outside for the red neon sign declaring "Hot Doughnuts Now" to illuminate at 5:30 a.m.? Or Red Lobster in 2003, when seafood fans lined up two hours before an 11 a.m. opening? Even Chick-fil-A followers camped out overnight in 2009, braving rain to get coupons for free chicken sandwiches for a year.

Anticipation. Excitement. Consumption.

It was no different for the opening of Apple Store at Valley Plaza mall, where technology aficionados -- and those just yearning to be "first" -- began taking their places in line at 9 p.m. Thursday.

"We want some exciting things to happen in Bakersfield. This is what we got," said Kris Dale, who stood in line with his family.

It was all for what would happen at 6:30 a.m., when those standing outside were allowed to begin moving in groups into the mall. At 7:40 a.m., shouts and cheers erupted from the group allowed to assemble directly in front of the store.

And then at 7:58 a.m., Apple employees inside the store moved toward the windows, while in the mall corridor, the countdown began: "Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" It wasn't quite 8 a.m. yet, so some people undertook a second countdown of sorts, before the first folks walked into the store.

Agustin Sanchez, 19, wanted to be among the first, so he showed up at 4 a.m. In his hand he clutched a ticket to buy an iPhone 5, whose availability coincided with the opening of this, the 250th Apple Store in the United States.

"I just like having new stuff," Sanchez said, noting he already had the iPhone 4S.

He hailed the opening of the store near the Macy's entrance as a convenient place to browse and purchase.

But just what makes people turn out, line up and clamor to be first?

"It's an event, and people go to it. A lot of what makes people go is how cool it is," said John Emery, dean of Cal State Bakersfield's School of Business and Public Administration. He added: "Apple has been very good at being able to orchestrate itself."

Everything Friday appeared carefully coordinated, from allowing people to move into the mall, to keeping news reporters at a distance from the front of the store, to the buzz about the store that's been building for months.

"Apple is a fine, well-oiled machine," said Kristi Jackson, the mall's marketing manager.

Apple employees at Valley Plaza weren't available for interviews Friday, and a spokeswoman didn't return a call for information, such as how many of the new iPhone 5s were available for sale.

But there was plenty of buzz nonetheless. More than 300 people assembled before the store even opened.

Jim Turner, an adjunct instructor of marketing and human relations at Bakersfield College, said it's a social -- and status -- event for people to line up.

"The purchase is probably a status, but also just being first. The innovators want to buy the products first. It's not just having the product. It's having the product first." Turner said. And people want to be part of a product that is so visible, and the top valued brand in the world, he said.

"It's Bakersfield. We do this. We've waited a long time for an Apple Store," said Matt Revenaugh, 48, two folding chairs in hand as he left the mall with his free Apple T-shirt with the Apple logo and the words "Valley Plaza," one of the perks of being one of the first 1,000 customers in line.

His daughter Caitlin, 21, said she was leaving with "just the shirt and the experience," then added she had the chance to "hang out with Dad."

And with that, Revenaugh gave his daughter a kiss, while a passerby said "and the night's over."