At 9:45 a.m. Saturday, shopper Brian Dell’Olio clutched a newly purchased iPod Touch and made a hasty exit from the just-opened, jam-packed Apple computer store at the Maine Mall.

Most other mall shops had not unlocked their doors. But more than 500 shoppers already were queued up at the Apple Store for the grand opening at 9:30 a.m.

Dell’Olio, a financial planner and member of the Scarborough School Committee, had waited in line since 6 a.m. He had the unheralded honor of being the very first customer to make a purchase at Apple’s very first retail store in Maine.

“I figured a lot of folks were going to turn out for this,” said Dell’Olio, who navigated through throngs of cheering and applauding shoppers as he left the shop.

Store manager Jamie Feuss said late Saturday that he did not know the exact number of shoppers who visited Apple for its opening to browse and buy Apple iPods, iPhones and MacBooks. But Feuss, who formerly managed an Apple Store in Chicago, said the throng of cheering customers was fairly typical for an Apple retail store opening.

Early Saturday, the lines of customers stretched from the Apple Store, next to Victoria’s Secret, to Macy’s department store, where it made a U-turn and snaked back along the mall walkway. It extended past Pottery Barn and Ritz Camera.

Shoppers, though, were hardly impatient. With the fervor of rock fans waiting to cop concert tickets, the Apple shoppers cheered fellow buyers as they left the store with bags and boxes in their arms.

Nick Varrows, 18, of Rockport, was first in line, when the store’s staff – dressed in orange or blue Apple T-shirts – filed out, giving the crowd a sustained round of applause, which was returned with pumping fists and booming cheers.

“I just love Apple products,” said Varrows, as security personnel allowed small groups to pass into and out of the store to avoid a crush of customers.

Varrows was handed a souvenir Apple T-shirt. “They’re amazing,” Varrows said, referring to the Apple company and staff. Apple handed out T-shirts to the first 1,000 people who entered the shop.

The store sells all of Apple’s products: iPods, iPhones and laptop and desktop computers. It also offers Apple’s “genius bar” service desk, where Apple-trained technicians are on hand to answer questions and provide technical support.

Keith Stone, mall operations manager, was impressed by the number of people. Stone said he has never seen such excitement for a retailer moving into the mall.

Only 230 shoppers were allowed in the store at one time. “They’re all well-behaved,” Stone said.

The Apple Store is the first of several shops scheduled to open at the Maine Mall in the next few weeks. Clothing sellers Forever 21, H&M and Coldwater Creek also will open this fall.

The Maine Mall Apple store is the second one to open in Northern New England, after the Rockingham Mall in Salem, N.H.

Stone said that Maine Mall officials were well-prepared for the unbridled enthusiasm for Apple, after reading and hearing about Apple retail openings around the world. Stone said there were no issues controlling the crowd, which was orderly and seemed to cover all ages.

Apple products already are sold at the Maine Mall. They also can be purchased at AT&T and Best Buy. Many people also buy their Apple products online.

But a cult following has developed for Apple stores, as the company has increased its bricks-and-mortar presence in the U.S. and around the globe.

Planned locations for Apple stores often are kept secret, with bits of information leaking out on Web sites. The stealth planning seems to generate excitement among users, many of whom will only buy Apple products for phones, music sharing and laptops.

For the Apple enthusiasts waiting in line Saturday morning, purchasing new Apple products was only part of the appeal.

“I’m in education and I use Apple products all the time,” said Kash Dutta, 38, of Portland, a University of New England employee who stood near the back of the line. “I wanted to come out and support the first Apple store in Maine because I use Macs.”

Dutta said he didn’t necessarily plan to buy anything, once he got his turn to go inside. “I just wanted to come in and look around,” he said.

Tom Whitney of Scarborough was near the front of the line, waiting patiently for security to give him the OK to walk inside and join the buzz of excitement.

“I’ve been a Mac user for a long time,” he said. “I just had to come out and see this.”

Apple finds its core customers at mall