Sunday, June 01, 2003
The rise and fall (and rise) of CompUSA's Apple Stores
Once upon a time, Apple found a way to wedge a miniature retail paradise into the back corner of each and every CompUSA store, and Macintosh users rejoiced. But it didn't take long for paradise to dissolve into a minefield of sabotaged displays, outdated software, and a sea of salesmen who felt it was their mission in life to make sure that no one ever bought a Mac from their PC store. If that meant spotting a customer in line with an iMac and dragging his computer box into a back room to prevent him from making a purchase, then so be it.
The disaster that was the CompUSA Store Within in a Store (SWIAS) reached such comical levels that websites sprung up just to track the relative trashiness of the various stores. Many have speculated that CompUSA's inability to properly represent the Macintosh experience was the primary impetus behind Apple's own retail foray. But while the opening of fifty-plus of its own stores across the nation grabbed all the headlines in Apple's new initiative to sell Macs in a legitimate environment, the placing of full-time Apple reps in nearly every CompUSA went largely unnoticed. Based on my recent visit, I guess we all should have been paying more attention.
Since I'm fortunate enough to be within forty minutes of a true Apple Store, I don't visit my local SWIAS nearly as often as I used to. When I recently received a CompUSA gift certificate, I realized that it would be my first such trip in months. I expected that the SWIAS would be improved, but I wasn't prepared to find anything beyond adequacy. So when I approached the iMac on the front endcap of the Apple corner and stared into its luscious screen, I was surprised to see apple.com staring back at me, loaded in Safari no less. After a bit of clicking around, I discovered that this was in fact the real internet, not just a mock-up of apple's site. CompUSA might be about five years late in adding Internet connections to its demo Mac models, but it's finally happened. I was intrigued to see what else had been, well, upgraded.
The next thing that struck me was that the Dock icon for iTunes was green, which means it's version 4.0, which means only one thing: Music Store. What better way to annoy the PC shoppers on the other side of the store than to crank out 30-second song previews at full-blast? But then I saw a fabled blue-colored playlist, titled "17-inch PowerBook", and upon finding the big beast on another shelf, I saw that sure enough, these two Macs were broadcasting shared playlists to each other over Rendezvous. I had to suppress the urge to run out the front of the store and see whether the CompUSA sign over the door had in fact been replaced with an Apple logo. Whoever set these display models up was no minimum-wage commission-driven CompUSA red-shirt. This was clearly the work of an Apple employee. If Rendezvous wasn't enough of a giveaway, then the Apple LCD connected to the 15-inch PowerBook as a second monitor sealed the deal. This little corner of the store was now the real deal, no longer just a dumping ground in which Macs were marketed as poorly as PC's.
The transformation of the SWIAS from paradise, to sewer, back to paradise, now seems complete. This doesn't mean that Apple is wasting its efforts by opening its own stores, as Apple has now managed to redefine the word "paradise" with its locations. I still wouldn't send anyone to a SWIAS to scope out their first Mac, if they live anywhere near a real Apple outlet. The Apple rep can't possibly be on-hand all seventy-plus hours per week that the store is open, and the CompUSA red-shirts still work on commission and are still too fond of selling you a fourteen-year extended warranty and seventeen external floppy drives...and selling you a PC, no doubt. But for all those who don't yet have a true Apple Store in their area, at least the SWIAS now represents a legitimate, if not ideal, environment in which to get hooked on a Mac...and then buy one. Just be careful when they try to sell you a super-high-grade gold-plated serial cable to go with your new iBook.
Oh, and the gift certificate? I hung on to it for the time being. I'll be coming back to this CompUSA soon enough. I wish the certificate could be used at a real Apple Store, but this'll do.
Has your SWIAS experienced a rebirth? Do you even care about CompUSA anymore, now that Apple has its own stores? Do you wish, like I do, that Apple would have staffed its own employees in CompUSA locations starting back in 1998? Sell it to me.
Once upon a time, Apple found a way to wedge a miniature retail paradise into the back corner of each and every CompUSA store, and Macintosh users rejoiced. But it didn't take long for paradise to dissolve into a minefield of sabotaged displays, outdated software, and a sea of salesmen who felt it was their mission in life to make sure that no one ever bought a Mac from their PC store. If that meant spotting a customer in line with an iMac and dragging his computer box into a back room to prevent him from making a purchase, then so be it.
The disaster that was the CompUSA Store Within in a Store (SWIAS) reached such comical levels that websites sprung up just to track the relative trashiness of the various stores. Many have speculated that CompUSA's inability to properly represent the Macintosh experience was the primary impetus behind Apple's own retail foray. But while the opening of fifty-plus of its own stores across the nation grabbed all the headlines in Apple's new initiative to sell Macs in a legitimate environment, the placing of full-time Apple reps in nearly every CompUSA went largely unnoticed. Based on my recent visit, I guess we all should have been paying more attention.
Since I'm fortunate enough to be within forty minutes of a true Apple Store, I don't visit my local SWIAS nearly as often as I used to. When I recently received a CompUSA gift certificate, I realized that it would be my first such trip in months. I expected that the SWIAS would be improved, but I wasn't prepared to find anything beyond adequacy. So when I approached the iMac on the front endcap of the Apple corner and stared into its luscious screen, I was surprised to see apple.com staring back at me, loaded in Safari no less. After a bit of clicking around, I discovered that this was in fact the real internet, not just a mock-up of apple's site. CompUSA might be about five years late in adding Internet connections to its demo Mac models, but it's finally happened. I was intrigued to see what else had been, well, upgraded.
The next thing that struck me was that the Dock icon for iTunes was green, which means it's version 4.0, which means only one thing: Music Store. What better way to annoy the PC shoppers on the other side of the store than to crank out 30-second song previews at full-blast? But then I saw a fabled blue-colored playlist, titled "17-inch PowerBook", and upon finding the big beast on another shelf, I saw that sure enough, these two Macs were broadcasting shared playlists to each other over Rendezvous. I had to suppress the urge to run out the front of the store and see whether the CompUSA sign over the door had in fact been replaced with an Apple logo. Whoever set these display models up was no minimum-wage commission-driven CompUSA red-shirt. This was clearly the work of an Apple employee. If Rendezvous wasn't enough of a giveaway, then the Apple LCD connected to the 15-inch PowerBook as a second monitor sealed the deal. This little corner of the store was now the real deal, no longer just a dumping ground in which Macs were marketed as poorly as PC's.
The transformation of the SWIAS from paradise, to sewer, back to paradise, now seems complete. This doesn't mean that Apple is wasting its efforts by opening its own stores, as Apple has now managed to redefine the word "paradise" with its locations. I still wouldn't send anyone to a SWIAS to scope out their first Mac, if they live anywhere near a real Apple outlet. The Apple rep can't possibly be on-hand all seventy-plus hours per week that the store is open, and the CompUSA red-shirts still work on commission and are still too fond of selling you a fourteen-year extended warranty and seventeen external floppy drives...and selling you a PC, no doubt. But for all those who don't yet have a true Apple Store in their area, at least the SWIAS now represents a legitimate, if not ideal, environment in which to get hooked on a Mac...and then buy one. Just be careful when they try to sell you a super-high-grade gold-plated serial cable to go with your new iBook.
Oh, and the gift certificate? I hung on to it for the time being. I'll be coming back to this CompUSA soon enough. I wish the certificate could be used at a real Apple Store, but this'll do.
Has your SWIAS experienced a rebirth? Do you even care about CompUSA anymore, now that Apple has its own stores? Do you wish, like I do, that Apple would have staffed its own employees in CompUSA locations starting back in 1998? Sell it to me.
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