Now that the news about Apple's planned retail outlets has graduated from "speculative rumor" to the coveted status of "well-documented certainty" (thanks to the blabbermouths on the Palo Alto architectural review board), the repercussions of the move are starting to sink in around the community. First of all, many of you who are damned to wander the murky aisles of, say, your local CompUSA for your Macs-at-retail needs were wondering what the time scale is for the opening of this glorious Mac retail paradise. Well, according to a Reuters article, a Palo Alto planning official stated that Apple's intention is to open its first three stores this coming April. While there's no evidence available regarding Apple's timetable to open more stores outside of California, we'd have to guess that most of you are going to have to wait until at least the end of next year-- and that's assuming that you live in an area that Apple deems worthy enough to be graced with its regal retail presence.

Then there's the more contentious issue central to Apple's plans: is Apple royally screwing its existing resellers? A MacWEEK article reveals that as recently as October 23rd (less than a month ago, for the calendarily-challenged), Apple's senior veep of worldwide operations "assured" its Apple Specialist stores that the company "would not open retail stores." Dig back a little further and you'll find that Mitch Mandich, Apple's senior veep of worldwide sales (who is "coincidentally" retiring at the end of this year), reportedly told resellers a year ago that "it would be 'years' before Apple opened any stores." (Technically, that's almost correct, since April of 2001 is indeed more than a year after November of 1999-- but hey, who's counting?) Now that Apple's diving head-first into the retail bricks-and-mortar game, many of the company's dedicated retail partners have a right to feel a little ticked off.

For instance, faithful viewer Jeff notes that ComputerWare has been an outstanding Mac-only reseller for years. The company has stuck by Apple through thick and thin (and you all remember how thin things got a few years back), and is even a member of Apple's Dealer Advisory board. Now, here's the rub: there's a ComputerWare location "about five minutes away" from Apple's downtown Palo Alto store. That means ComputerWare is going to have to compete head-to-head with the very company who indirectly stocks its shelves with merchandise-- a daunting prospect by any measure. And reportedly Apple Specialists still haven't even received official word from Apple about its move into the retail space; the company is still declining comment on the matter.

All of this indicates that Apple's wading into some pretty dangerous waters. There's no way the company can open enough of its own stores to fill the gap left by a potential mass exodus of betrayed Mac resellers-- at least, not in the time frame necessary to prevent its sales from dropping through the floor. Hopefully Steve and his minions have a game plan to keep Apple's stores from gutting the company's own resellers. And hopefully they'll share that plan soon, before the resellers march on Cupertino armed with pitchforks and torches.