I visited two Apple resellers in August 2004 to see how they're presenting Apple products and compare prices. All the stores were in downtown Montreal, which appears underserved by Macintosh resellers. There are several Apple resellers in the city's suburbs, including MicroBoutique and MicroServe,

The first reseller, CompuSmart, has only a very small section devoted to Apple gear, and the empty boxes below the display cases hinted that they stock only a very limited number of each item. The laptop display was horrible--it was a flimsy metal contraption with "H-P" stenciled on the side, with a black-and-aluminum logo glued to the top. Whoa! Overall, they got an "F" grade.

The other store was "B.Mac," listed in the telephone book as specializing in Apple gear, but they were a little difficult to find. I couldn't locate them at 463 Rue Sainte Catherine. I gave up, had lunch, but then returned to take another look. Finally, I spotted a sign on the 2nd-floor level of the building, with an arrow pointing downward. The French on the sign noted that the entrance was at the St. James church! So I checked the church entrance, and had to really look closely to see the door to the upper floors of the building. Once I came down the hallway, I found the store entrance marked with official Apple banners. Inside, it was anything but "official Apple." There was a curious couch and painted Apple logo on the wall, a casual display of Macintosh gear on two tables, shelves of merchandise, and a check-out counter. One part of the store beyond what's pictured here was filled with art supplies. Overall, I give the gang at B.Mac a "B" for their spunk, decent stock of products, and their quirky decor. But they could use a little help with furniture and other appearance-related features of the store. Note: The B.Mac chain closed permanently in mid-September, 2004.

I should note that this Saint Catherine Bmac store is Bmac's secondary location, inside a former graphic arts supply store that Bmac purchased. They have a much nicer store further away from downtown.

I checked a third, very large store, Future Shop, but found that its comprehensive second-floor computer space had absolutely no products made by Apple--zip, zero. It was virtually across the street from B.Mac in the main, downtown shopping area.

Here are some prices I wrote down from the two Apple resellers, with the Canadian dollar = US$0.75: