Usually when a new iPhone hits retail stores it is accompanied by large lines of eager customers waiting to snap up the device; however apparently this isn’t the case when it come to the CDMA iPhone releasing to retail.

According to an article over on Engadget by Sean Hollister, Reuters is reporting that the retail launch of the Verizon iPhone drew “sparse crowds” yesterday with flagship Apple stores in New York and San Francisco only managing to pull in as little as 20 people.

As of the afternoon on Thursday stores still had stock of the Verizon iPhone on shelves despite the Big Red expecting huge demand and erecting metal barricades and making sure plenty of employees were on hand.

We have a short video of a Verizon iPhone line taken at the Mall of America in Bloomington for you viewing pleasure courtesy of YouTube user Ojezap, so check it out, and feel free to let us know if you’ve seen similar at other locations.