This Sunday’s Circuit City national circular makes it apparent that the company doesn’t really want to sell iMacs, with a confusing picture, description and pricing.
On page two, at the bottom(after all the PCs, of course) the iMac appears from a side vantage only—of the entry Indigo box. The picture is the same one used on the Apple store site to show the different colors, but in this context it doesn’t look like a computer at all, but some sort of alien space ship. All other machines are shown from a front view, and even the IBM UPS box just below the iMac is shot to look more like a computer.

To the left of the image is the following “attempt” to justify a purchase:

  “Ph.D. Meets MP3
  Go back to school
  with an iMac
  featuring iTunes
  and iMovie, and
  take higher learning
  to a higher level.”

I still haven’t figured out what to make of that.

And to the right, is this illuminating description of the computer (verbatim):
  “APPLE
  Super-Fast G3 Processor
  * Lots of memory
  * Ethernet, or Optional Airport for Fast
  Wireless Connections to the Internet
  IMAC600G
  1499.99 before rebate
    -200 instant savings
  ———-
  1299.99 after rebate & before Internet fees
        (24mos @ 21.95 mo.)”

Yes, the ad doesn’t tell which model they’re describing. Based on the code “IMAC600G,” it appears to be the midrange 600Mhz; the price, however, is that of the 700Mhz.

What d’ya think—is CC trying to dump Apple?

Surely you cannot be serious ....if you are that is chronic paranoia and unworthy of you friend. It is unlikely that a corporation will be deliberately ‘hinting’ at their desire to discontinue a product. It is cheaper and much better to simply drop it. Whatever problems (real or apparent) Circuit City has with marketing Macs you can be sure it is not fueled by some clandestine campaign to malign the platform - more than likely it is sheer incompetence and ignorance - you really need to get a grip on reality here.

Hint: Hyperbole. Look it up.

The point is simple: Circuit City’s ad department can’t even be troubled to figure out which iMac models they’re promoting, what the actual tech specs might be (“Lots of memory?!”), or even if the image matches the price. If their national advertising can’t get it right, do you expect the local peon floor staff to care?

I’ll let you in on an inside secret—they’d rather be selling PCs. The commission incentives are better, and they don’t have to work particularly hard to sell someone on a cheap WinTel box.

It’s no wonder the iMac sales are floundering at retailers. Apple has been forced to put its own employees in CompUSA stores and open its own retail operation.

I predict before the end of the year, Circuit City will no longer be carrying Apple products (again.)

More importantly, with the new pressure of Apple’s very own line of stores, how will resellers like CompUSA and Circuit City be impacted?

The more place to buy Macs the better, right?  That is unless the places selling them are disinterested or unqualified.

The impact that the Apple Stores have on other resellers will be very interesting to follow.  I for one think that the Apple Stores are going to be a wild success, but at what cost?

A Devil’s Advocate post: Circuit City may not have had all the information from Apple they needed to make that flyer reflect accurate information.  In other words, with Apple’s (almost justified) paranoia about information leaks, Circuit City may not have had the exact stats of the machines they would be pushing at the time of publication by the printer’s deadline.

I don’t know that for a fact, mind you, but I did want to throw it into the ring for discussion. 

I work at an established Apple reseller store. Our biggest competition is not CompUSA or Circuit City or even MacMall magizines, it Apple themselves. We had a customer call Apple to find out info about some things he wanted to do with a computer and was looking for a solution. Apple found him a solution and then procedded to talk the customer into buying his mac from the Apple store instead of us. On the new computers just released (PowerMac G4 Quicksilvers) you have the availibilty of 14-20 days from the Apple store. From us, you would have a 4-6 week wait because Apple has not even shipped items to our vendors. We are forced to buy our product directly from the Apple store and sell with no profit. Even when we have product available we make very little profit on these systems. On the highest end iMac (before the latest revisments that we still cant get) we would make about $20 profit. It would seem to me that Apple would rather stores like mine to close down and have all the people in that area contact Apple directly for sale and service.

I’m the tech here and they also grade us on quality. I agree with this policy and find that it helps to keep a good clean service. But, my service department get graded a little to stricly sometimes. For instance: if I have an iMac with a bad Power/Analog board (controls video output to the tube and main component that goes bad), I order one under warrenty and get it in the next day. I install that part and find that it now has a new symptom that points to the Power/Analog board again (Apple sent me a bad one). Again, I order a new part and install it and the system works fine. I take a hit to our grade because Apple sent us a bad part. Within the last 2 weeks I have recieved 5 bad parts from Apple. This is no where my fault yet I still take a hit! Another one is when I follow the guide lines that Apple has laid forth in the PDF manuals I get off thier web site. I have to replace parts in the order they have set before me. If its not the first part they have me replace then I take a hit there. They consider it a failure on a first time fix. I’m really starting to get fed up with Apple on this. I know I can call and get some of these corrected but when I do I get hasseled by Apple reps who question every thing about why I’m trying to get my points back.

BTW….the number of points (AKA Grade) determines how much warrenty reimbersment (sp?) we recieve from doing warrenty work claims from Apple.

I hate to admit it, but I think the “devils advocate” post was right. Since Apple just updated the iMac, and was so secretive about it right up to the end, the advertising agency probably had to just slap the picture and specs into the ad at the last minute. If you factor in the time it takes for production and distribution, they probably found out what the “NEW” iMac would be at the same time we did.
And now the worst part:
I’m glad CC went out of their way to actually INCLUDE the iMac, even if they had to do a shoddy job of it. I’m sure they’re not happy about it either…

I recently went to the Tyson’s Corner Apple Store.
My iMac’s clock battery, still just under warranty, had run down.
The Apple Store is pretty far away (50 miles, I think).
The nearest CompUSA is about 30 miles, I think.
The Apple Store indicated that perhaps they could turn it around in several hours, if they weren’t too busy when I brought it in, and if they had the right battery in stock.  They said they probably had it in.

CompUSA indicated perhaps a 2 or perhaps 3 day turn-around.  Ouch.  Just to replace a clock battery.  They didn’t keep batteries in stock, but would first receive the computer, diagnose, then order the needed parts, wait for the parts, repair.  I asked if they could order the battery first, and then I could bring in the computer.  Nope.

As it turned out, we (family) got tired of waiting for it to be ready, so we drove home and I returned that evening to collect it.  So my plan of a _single_ long round-trip didn’t pan out, though I was happy to be without the computer for maybe only 12 hours total, rather than 2 or perhaps 3 days.

I think that CompUSA’s role re Apple products should be fast turn around on repairs, and as a showcase for Apple products.  I think Apple should pay/require CompUSA to always have one example of each modern system on display (not for sale, but for enticing the customer to buy), loaded with interesting software, connected to interesting peripherals, waiting for people to play with it, with a knowledgeable person standing nearby.  If orders are taken, the system is bought as if from Apple’s on-line store, at the on-line store price, with CompUSA receiving a commission.  The customer walks out with paperwork, and the computer arrives from the on-line store.  (I suppose there will always be a person who needs to buy an Mac _now_, and perhaps CompUSA can sell a few of those, at high prices.  I’ll let CompUSA decide what the premium for instant gratification should be, and if they can make any money on that.)

I think that CompUSA should be required, if they are going to be authorized to repair Apple Computer’s to keep certain simple things in stock.
For example, they should have mice, keyboards, cables, power supplies, batteries, etc.—things that break, but are not incredibly expensive, and that do not come in so many flavors of megahertz, gigabytes, etc.  They should be able to order certain parts in advance (like my battery), especially for warranty repairs!  If the phone diagnosis is later discoverted to be wrong, the part could be sent back to Apple without penalty.

For comparison, Apple Stores would have all current systems in stock, on the floor, available at the same price as the on-line store.  They would have all sorts of useful software and peripherals in stock, on the floor.  They would have all sorts of spare parts in stock.  They should function like the CompUSA store, but on steroids, with the expectation of instant gratification both for both rapid turnaround on repair, and for purchases of complete systems of hardware&software;.

The Apple Stores will not make much profit on sales of the computer itself. (They are or should be selling at the same price as the on-line store, yet they have very expensive costs for their retail space, stocking, sales staff, etc.)  Rather they will make their profit, if any, on the ability to demonstrate that certain collections of added hardware and software work well together along with the computer, and with the promise that if they don’t the customer will come back and have the collection made to work as expected.  (It is not clear that the Apple Stores need to generate significant profit, if any.  It is clear that they must provide a dazzling, flawless, pleasant experience for the customer.  Having said that, it seems to me that these stores may be generating a profit, if nothing else because of their momentary novelty and rarity.)  They should be able to provide good advice for customers trying to order build-to-order systems (these need not be available in “instant gratification” mode), so that the customer does not order something silly, lopsided, or useless.  (“Profits should be made at the expense of the competition, not at the expense of the customer.”)

You should expect every employee in an Apple Store to either give you an expert answer to your question, or direct you unerringly to the person who can provide that answer.  (And not with the result that all customers are dumped on _one_ poor schmoo sitting at the genius bar looking weary.  There was a little of that going on at the Tyson’s Corner store when I visited.  Some of the other sales staff looked sufficiently nerdly that I suspect they were not totally unable to help him.  Maybe they are working on commission, and this influenced their choice of what to do?)  You should expect the Apple Store to foster and maintain an Apple community in its vicinity, with ties to a local user group.  Thus, by calling/visiting the Apple Store, you would be able to easily learn how to join this user group.

I would expect that CompUSA stores would be unable to compete with Apple Stores in close proximity.  (Compete in the Apple arena, that is.)  If they succeed, it will be through convenience (short driving distance, fast turn around on repairs), rather than direct competition on all fronts.

News flash: Apple will be placing its own employees into CompUSA real soon. Intel had been doing this for a long time with MarketSource Reps.

I have a couple of things to add.

First, on a visit to a local area Circuit City, they had their regular iMac/Cube (yes, still the Cube) setup, but then on another shelf, they had a random Indigo iMac.  Turned out it was an old iMac DV ($999 original price, Summer 2000, 400 MHz), but upon inquiry of price (in attempt to get a good deal), the salesman couldn’t find it at all in the computer system.  He was completely perplexed, as were other sales people, as to how it got there, completely set up.  He said he was going to look into it and call, but never did.

Second, there is clear evidence of the Tyson’s Corner Apple Store’s effect on local Apple retailers.  The Vienna, VA MicroCenter used to be THE place to get Apple related products and decent retail service/help.  You would see several people in the Apple/Mac part of the store and fairly good fluidity of computers.  But as soon as the Apple Store opened, it became akin to a ghost town.  Apparently now they are going to move PC’s in the Mac area, reducing the amount of space the Macs have.  Not only that, but that makes it much more likely that people will be directed to PC’s when coming in for a Mac.

Certainly the Apple Store is one big positive sales experience, but now it’s killing other loyal Apple resellers.  You have to admit, it’s a lot easier to direct a person to the Apple Store when they need help with anything Mac than it is to a general computing store with one section for Macs.

Don’t get me started on Micro Center, Patricio. I work at Micro Center. Because of their non-compete clause in their contract, none of us Macheads at Micro Center can work at the Apple Store. I pretty much had a job there, but as soon as they found out I was working for Micro Center, good-bye!

Now, why should I complain about this, when I signed the contract knowingly? Well, when I was hired by Micro Center, I was working at CompUSA as a Mac guy. Micro Center had a NON-COMPETE WITH COMPUSA, but had no qualms about taking me from CUSA. I figured they wouldn’t be hypocritical and try to hold me to it, right?

Don’t worry. I’m planning to write a column, as soon as I talk to my lawyer (there’s more to this story, my friends). I don’t really have a case, but I want to do it out of GP—General Principle.

The way I feel, if Apple takes business from the others, so be it. I envision there only being two Mac retailers in the USA—the Apple Store and CompUSA. The rest? Let them eat cake. As for Micro Center, they can kiss my black you-know-what. I’m sure they know how I feel. Hell, I don’t need the money, so I probably shouldn’t even make a fuss.

But then again, I need to write that column. I haven’t gotten any hate mail this week

Meanwhile, back at Circuit City….. Your see,ve got vone of dem tu…..The add that they ran here did indeed have the non Macs displayed at the top of the page and the iMacs below them.  However, I didn’t feel slighted by the display…could have been because I was elated in seeing any kind of Apple computer advertised in, if you will, a non Mac environment like MacMall, the Apple Store, etc.  After seeing the add, I visited the local store and found three iMacs and one Cube set up and available to be tried.  When I positioned myself at one, a sales person appeared and started discussing Macs with me.  He was well versed in Macintosh seemed interested in swapping “Mac” ideas even after I told him I wasn’t buying anything at the time.  I was very favorably impressed with Circuit City’s display as well as the staff member.  ‘Course dummies are probably pretty easy to impress. 

Glad to hear it, Dummy!  Good to know there are some stores out there doing it right.

Also glad to see you are but one post away from a shiny gold star.