When a cramped Apple Store opened in the Pioneer Place basement in 2005 -- in a time without the iPhone or the iPad -- several hundred fans lined up to see the company's first branded retail stop in downtown Portland.

The turnout for Saturday's opening of a stunning 23,000-square-foot upgrade at street level was even more impressive. And it wasn't just the spirit of Steve Jobs shinning down his geeky masses. There was sunshine -- a lot of it.

Just before the 10 a.m. opening of the giant box of a store -- all glass, blonde wood and polished metal beneath a glowing Apple logo -- about 500 people stretched around the block.

See, said the die-hard Apple fans, perish the thought that some of the cool has rubbed off the world's coolest technology company.

"And I don't think Apple publicized this one as much," said a middle-aged man moving his fingers across an iPad screen. "I just got a brief email about the opening."

Of course, very few people in line were actually there to buy an Apple laptop or gadget. Everyone seemed to have plenty of those already. Most of them wanted a gray T-shirt, which would be handed out to the first 1,000 people steeping through the portal under a glowing Apple logo.

Apple's new Portland store opens Saturday, May 31 48 Gallery: Apple's new Portland store opens Saturday, May 31

Apple hands out free commemorative T-shirts at every new store opening. Apple fans wear them like Grateful Dead fans sport concert shirts.

Steve Riggins of Vancouver said he was there in part to see if the allure of a free shirt and cutting edge retail architecture could draw the kind of crowds that the opening of Microsoft's Windows got with a free Weezer concert last summer.

"I do like to stand line and be a part of big events," Riggins said.

In case you're wondering, the first people in line started showing up about 4 a.m.

And as the video above shows, some of them had a tough putting the draw of a new Apple Store into words.

-- Joseph Rose