Mad Macs Opens in Williamstown
 Mad Macs co-owner Scott Kirchner, left, oversees the first sale at the company's new location on Spring Street in Williamstown. |
April 1, 2012, Mad Macs begins its life as an authorized Apple retailer at its North Street store in Pittsfield.
April 1, 2014, Mad Macs opens its second location on Spring Street in Williamstown.
Coincidence? Well, actually, yeah.
"It is just another weird coincidence," Mad Macs co-owner Scott Kirchner said as he got the new store going its "soft opening" on Tuesday morning.
Like any business owners, Kirchner and partner Daryl Corbett wanted to get their retail operations running as quickly as possible. It just happened that the first possible date for either milestone coincided with the birthday of the computer giant whose dedicated customers form the core of Mad Macs' business.
Mad Macs has been in business for 16 years — first as a repair-only shop on East Housatonic Street in Pittsfield. As of today, it has two fully operational sales and service locations, the only two authorized dealerships in Berkshire County.
About the only thing Apple you cannot get at either store is an iPhone. Those are retailed by operations that sell cellular service plans.
But iPads, iMacs, iPods, MacBooks? Those they have, along with keyboards, covers, speakers, chargers and any other peripherals to make life easier for those who prefer the brand that has been making computers easy to use for nearly four decades.
"This is a great market for us up here," Kirchner said as his employees cleaned the windows and put the finishing touches on various displays.
"It's an Apple market. What we don't do in sales, we'll make up for in service. I don't know if anyone around here offers the selection of peripherals that we can offer. All are top quality. We're getting products, and we hope it's going to last for you."
Kirchner said Mad Macs plans a grand opening later this month on Spring Street. The soft opening allows the business to work out any of the kinks during what normally would be a slow period while Williams College is on its spring break.
Mad Macs added four full-time employees to its work force in preparation for the new store, bringing its total number of employees to 13. Kirchner said the company expects to add one more full-time position and one part-time position at the Williamstown location after it sees how much business it does.
Tags: Apple, new business, spring street, technology,
