Mac Retailer Elite Computers Of Cupertino Shuts Its Doors

by , 4:30 PM EDT, April 17th, 2003

'Tis a sad day in the annals of the Mac world: Elite Computers has shut its doors. According to a report from C|Net, the long time Mac retailer whose main location was directly across the street from Apple's main campus in Cupertino, and whose storefront sported a large 6 colored Apple logo sign, has shut its doors. Elite was one of the companies that had refused to sign Apple's revised reseller agreement, but was not included in the list of companies that had patched things up earlier this week. That is, according to C|Net, because the company has shut its doors.

Elite was a long time fixture in Silicon Valley, including its location on De Anza Blvd., but expanded in 2001 by buying the ComputerWare name in 2001. ComputerWare was a well-known San Francisco-based Mac outlet that had shut its own doors earlier shortly before the buyout. The re-branded ComputerWare by Elite stores reopened some of the ComputerWare locations, but the competition from Apple's own retail Apple Stores began almost immediately after that.

Elite Computers & Software, the Mac reseller known for its spot across the street from Apple Computer's headquarters in Cupertino, is closing that and all of its other Northern California stores, plus a handful of ComputerWare by Elite stores elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay area.

A voicemail recording at the company's Berkeley location notes that that store and several others closed on Tuesday. "As of Tuesday, Apr. 15, this location and all other ComputerWare locations have been closed," the recording says.

[...]

The ComputerWare recording says that all of the stores' inventory is being liquidated at the Cupertino location. A representative at the Cupertino store said that the outlet will close in about two months, once the liquidation is complete.

You can find the full article at C|Net's web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

The business world is rough, certainly, and Apple is responsible for Apple and answerable to its shareholders, but with a market as small as Apple's, it's seldom smart to burn bridges. You need all the friends you can get. Of course, it's always possible that Elite was the problem in negotiations with Apple; one never knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Again, there are many different opinions on this issue, but the bottom line is that it's tough to see a company like Elite, a company that was all about Apple through-and-through, shut down.