"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." We strongly suspect that phrase has been tattooed discreetly on some undisclosed body part of each and every single person responsible for the shaping of Apple's retail strategy; in fact, we wouldn't be surprised to hear that Steve wielded the tat-gun himself. If you've been following the long, sad tale of Macs in retail for the past several years, you know full well that Apple has spent a lot of time discovering just how awful the computer shopping experience generally is-- and just how unfixable by less than heroic means. How many times over the years have we heard that CompUSA employees are being trained in how to sell Macs? And how much better has the average CompUSA gotten at selling Macs? Right.

Obviously the ultimate solution is for Apple to maintain and staff its own stores, and by all accounts, the new Apple retail stores are indeed something special. But six stores by the end of August obviously aren't going to allow Apple to tell CompUSA to kiss off without seriously reducing the Mac's retail presence. Neither will twenty-five stores by the end of the year. In fact, even if Apple were to have a thousand of its own classy boutiques all over the country, it's likely that maintaining a presence in the general computer stores (to stand out amidst the Wintel dreck) would still be a strategically attractive situation. So what's the answer?

Well, according to MacMinute, the "do it yourself" strategy prevails again. Remember that test program from back in April, in which Apple stationed its own employees in a series of Dallas and San Francisco CompUSA locations to ensure that Mac shoppers got the help they needed? Last month we noted that said test program had been deemed a "rousing success," and that Apple intended to extend the practice to certain CompUSA locations nationwide "by the end of the year." It's now two months later, so what's up with the expansion of "Project Diamond-In-The-Rough"?

Glad you asked; MacMinute has unearthed a few details. First of all, Apple employees will only be stationed in "70 to 90" CompUSA stores across the country, so you shouldn't necessarily expect your particular store to be one of the lucky ones; if we had to guess, we'd expect Apple to target CompUSAs in areas without upcoming Apple stores, to try to spread the love as far as possible. Apple is reportedly already hunting for candidates to be "full-time, Apple-badged employees," and intends to fill most of the CompUSA slots "by the end of September." So for those of you stranded in Apple-store-challenged areas, rejoice; soon enough, you may just get the slightest taste of retail nectar in what has traditionally been the great cosmic source of retail sludge. (No offense to those CompUSA employees who are Mac-savvy, of course, but until you rise up and beat your less-competent brethren to death with shovels and crowbars, putting up with these sorts of stereotypes will remain an on-the-job hazard.)