An Inside Look At Apple's Secret Weapon In Retail
by Dylan Love on Feb 17, 2012, 12:39 PM
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 Apple has 361 retail locations throughout the world, but that's not nearly enough to reach everyone in its huge customer base. Consider the city of Asheville, an artsy liberal town of approximately 84,000 people in Western North Carolina. Ashevillians love their Apple products, but the closest official retail location is 70 miles and a state away in Greenville, South Carolina. The next closest is more than two hours away in Knoxville, Tennessee. Making those trips is out of the question for many people. Enter CityMac, Asheville's authorized Apple reseller. Click here to take a tour of CityMac > Ahamad Abuadas, CityMac store manager, told us that Apple won't open a new store unless it runs the numbers and determines that it can make $30 million per year in a given market. "Authorized resellers come in when people in those smaller those markets need help," he said. What does it mean to become an authorized reseller? There are tests and marks to meet, and it helps if you have an in at the company. A certain amount of your staff has to get official Apple certifications in order to maintain your authorization as well. As for the differences between an Apple Store and an authorized reseller, Abuadas told us that "Apple physically limits our ability to do certain things. Repairs on iPhones and certain computers, those have to go to Apple. They authorize no one other than themselves to work on those. If we fixed them, we could lose certification and wouldn't be able to carry Apple products." (It bears mentioning that the iPhone accounts for roughly half of Apple's business, so we feel it's only natural that Apple would want to keep that for itself.) For the limitations that Apple imposes, CityMac has a large degree of freedom at the same time. If you buy a new computer from CityMac and your old computer is a Mac too, they'll transfer your old data for free. This stands in huge contrast to Apple -- a data transfer requires you to enroll in its One to One service for $100 per year. Additionally, CityMac employees will go to your house to help you with anything you need at a flat rate of $60 per hour. Abuadas told us that off-site visits can lead to crazy stories -- "I went to an ex-marine's house to help him off-site. He had some PTSD issues and starting opening up about it, saying 'I've probably killed more people than you could count. The most amazing thing you can see is a human being dissolved in phosphorus.' It was weird." A reseller like CityMac arguably delivers on the promise of Apple retail moreso than Apple itself. Since resellers pop up in smaller markets, employees remember their repeat customers and develop relationships with them. Prices on Apple products are identical to those at the Apple Store. And for moments when you're stumped by your computer, they'll come to your house. So what goes on at an Apple authorized reseller? If you lived in Asheville, the closest Apple Store would be in Greenville, South Carolina, about 90 minutes away. 
But there's another option -- just head to the southern end of town and look for the funky van. 
Directly behind you is CityMac, Asheville's Apple reseller. 
See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.
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