CompUSA's Apple store-in-a-store

Yesterday Macs Only! visited two of them, one in San Diego, CA, and the other in Encinitas, CA. While the San Diego CompUSA has been visited many times, this was the first since the Apple Store (AS) was installed and the first visit to any CompUSA with the AS (there are none in Virginia). Both AS's are in the back, on the left as you enter in San Diego and on the right in Encinitas. Both CompUSA's are better organized and maintained than any that I've visited elsewhere, where the floor/inventory "design" could be described as neo-warehouse pallet. The Encinitas store is particularly attractive.

In San Diego, the AS is about the same size as the old Apple section but it has the nice large overhead banner and best of all, a complete lineup of shipping Macs on display, i.e. desktops, towers and PowerBooks. All were on and had various demo software running or launchable. It was the first time that I had seen the MacAddict Magazine demo--great job MacAddict! The only exceptions were the lack of a 9600 and G3 266 DT. The software selection was a bit thin (but then surprisingly so was Mac-centric Creative Computer's across the highway) but not "old". They didn't have the FileMakerPro 4.0 upgrade for my California office Quadra 605 but then neither did Creative Computers (MacMall's physical store). The peripherals and do-dads were acceptable, too. I spent about 20 minutes comparing the 6500/300, 8600/300 and G3 MT--the G3 is perceptibly faster. I spent about another 10 minutes using the PowerBook G3, it really dusts my 3400c/180, and the 2400. My favorite? The tiny 2400 is the perfect traveler so I hope it lives on with a G3 CPU from Apple. The only problem? No salesperson approached me the entire time. Actually, none came into the Apple store, period, during over 30 minutes of play and showing my 82-year old mother the delights of the new Macs. The visit was during the after work rush.

The Encinitas CompUSA's ambiance was very pleasant. It even exceeded that of the Fairfax, VA, MicroCenter that I frequent. The "Think different" banners were up. Again, a complete lineup of Macs were on, working and with demo software. The software selection was more complete, at least I found the FileMakerPro 4.0 upgrade and for $89, and the peripherals and do-dads were pretty complete. For example, both stores had the wonderful Logitech Cordless Mouse that I really love. Still, despite being in the Apple store for over 15 minutes no salesperson came into the store area. The visit was during the after-dinner period and quite a few people were in the store.

In summary, these AS's were pretty much physically as advertised. However, they were not staffed despite being open since November. None of the "other" salespersons even took a shot at asking if I needed help even though several were just standing around at various times near the AS. The prices on things other than the Macs were competitive with mail order and they did not have just the "gold-plated" items. Therefore, CompUSA's prices were less than MicroCenter's (my MAJOR complaint against MicroCenter's Mac section). Unfortunately, the Mac prices were straight Apple retail, i.e. several hundred dollars above the best mail order prices. They hadn't even lowered the 2400's price from $2,999 to Apple's current $2,499.