Editing Apple Store (section)

===Third-party retail===
[[Steve Jobs]], co-founder of Apple, returned to the company as interim CEO in 1997. According to his biographer [[Walter Isaacson]], Jobs began a concerted campaign to help sales by improving the retail presentation of Macintosh computers. Even with new products launched under his watch, like the [[iMac G3|iMac]] and the [[PowerBook G3]] and an online store, Apple still relied heavily on big-box computer and electronics stores for most of its sales. There, customers continued to deal with poorly trained and ill-maintained Mac sections that did not foster customer loyalty to Apple and did not help differentiate the Mac user experience from Windows.<ref name="roots">{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Hormby |title=The Roots of Apple's Retail Stores |url=http://lowendmac.com/2008/the-roots-of-apples-retail-stores/ |website=LowEndMac |date=May 19, 2008 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113234954/http://lowendmac.com/2008/the-roots-of-apples-retail-stores/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="together again">{{cite web |first=Janet |last=Meyer |title=Best Buy and Apple Together Again |url=http://www.applematters.com/article/best-buy-and-apple-together-again/ |website=Apple Matters |date=June 27, 2006 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=April 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427100854/http://www.applematters.com/article/best-buy-and-apple-together-again/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In fact, the retailer trend was towards selling their own generic in-house brand PCs which used even cheaper components than those by major PC makers, increasing retailer overall margins by keeping the manufacturing profits. This "provided a powerful profit motive to convert customers interested in buying a Mac into the owners of a new, cheaply assembled, house brand PC".<ref name="retail challenge">{{cite web |first=Daniel |last=Eran |title=Apple's Retail Challenge |url=http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/1DDD598A-7CE0-479E-A6F9-912777CAB484.html |website=Roughly Drafted |date=November 8, 2006 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415153316/http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/1DDD598A-7CE0-479E-A6F9-912777CAB484.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Tim Cook]], who joined Apple in 1998 as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations, announced the company would "cut some channel partners that may not be providing the buying experience [Apple expects]. We're not happy with everybody." Jobs severed Apple's ties with every big box retailer, including Sears, Montgomery Ward, Best Buy, Circuit City, Computer City, and Office Max to focus its retail efforts with [[CompUSA]]—which reached an agreement to establish dedicated departments for Apple hardware, staffed by trained employees and representatives. Apple also worked with local user groups to promote launch events for new hardware and [[Classic Mac OS|Mac OS]] releases.<ref name=":1" />

Between 1997 and 2000, the number of Mac authorized resellers dropped from 20,000 to just 11,000. The majority of these were cuts made by Apple itself. Jobs proclaimed that Apple would be targeting [[Dell]] as a competitor, with Cook's mandate to match or exceed Dell's lean inventories and streamlined supply chain. Jobs made an open statement to [[Michael Dell]], "with our new products and our new store and our new build-to-order, we're coming after you, buddy." While Dell had operated as direct mail order and online order company, having pulled out of retailers to realize greater profit margins and efficiency, Apple had direct orders with sales handled by its channel partners, other mail order resellers, independent dealerships, and the new relationship with CompUSA.<ref name="retail challenge" />
[[File:Apple Tower Theatre.jpg|thumb|[[Tower Theatre (Los Angeles)|Apple Tower Theatre]] in [[Los Angeles]], California]]
A revised concept for an Apple "[[store-within-a-store]]" was designed by Eight Inc., a San Francisco-based firm who had developed Apple's presences at the [[Macworld/iWorld|MacWorld expo]]; they were designed as a self-contained showroom with more minimalistic design that emphasized the products themselves. After a trial at retail outlets in Japan, CompUSA began to adopt the new concept for its locations beginning in 1999.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-20 |title=Before the Genius Bar: Behind the retail designs that paved the way for 20 years of Apple Stores |url=https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/20/20-years-apple-retail-stores-compusa-early-designs/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=9to5Mac}}</ref>  The "store within a store" approach still had shortcomings; acting as a [[Mystery shopping|mystery shopper]], ''Macworld'' writer [[David Pogue]] observed that all but one of the locations he visited had employees who actively steered him towards Windows PCs and attacked Macs (such as claiming they did not have software available); the company's PR director Suzanne Shelton stated that finding "specialized" talent was difficult. Despite this, CompUSA sales of Macs had increased. Apple then added [[Best Buy]] as a second authorized reseller.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |first=David |last=Pogue |title=Desktop Critic: CompUSA: Apple's Not-So-Superstore |url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1014845/desktopcritic.html |website=[[Macworld]] |publisher=[[International Data Group]] |date=March 1, 1999 |access-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329115612/http://www.macworld.com/article/1014845/desktopcritic.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Challenges still remained, as resellers' profit margins on selling Macs was only around 9%, and selling Macs was only worthwhile if ongoing service and support contracts were provided, of which retailer experiences were inconsistent.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/1DDD598A-7CE0-479E-A6F9-912777CAB484.html|title=Apple's Retail Challenge|access-date=July 21, 2016|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415153316/http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/1DDD598A-7CE0-479E-A6F9-912777CAB484.html|url-status=live}}</ref>