Store manager Tim wright and co-owner Scott Kirchner in the company's new space.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Apple products repair company Mad Macs has moved downstairs from its previous location in the Allendale Shopping Center.

The authorized Apple repair service was established in 1998 to provide service to Apple computers and devices and has had an ever-changing history.

"Since we started, we've grown and changed and shrunk and grown again, and we've done a lot of different things," said co-owner Scott Kirchner. "We've had multiple stores. We've grown from service into retail, and now we're on the other side of that, getting out of retail and back to our roots in service."

Kirchner and co-owner Daryl Corbett were most recently located next to Walgreens in Allendale. They have now moved downstairs into Suite 101.

And while they used to sell retail and manage information technology services for businesses, that division was separated and merged with Dalton-based Renatus Solutions to form Revolution IT. They now have gone back to their roots of only repair service.

Kirchner said the COVID-era inventory shortages made retail difficult, and they went about a year without being able to obtain a computer to sell. Meanwhile, competition from Apple, online sellers, and retailers increased, while margins were low.

"Eventually it got to the point where the amount we were making doing the retail really wasn't worth it anymore," he said. "Things had changed within Apple, things sort of changed within our business model and eventually what happened is the competition got to be too much." 

Since their former space was larger than needed now that they didn't have retail, they asked the plaza owners if they could move into a smaller space as they wanted to stay in the shopping center's central location. Kirchner said they are the only Apple-authorized service within 50 miles.

"A lot of our decision to downsize was to be able to preserve to be able to continue to provide that service for the county, so people didn't have to go to Holyoke or Albany, in order to get their phones fixed and devices as well," he said.

Mad Macs is mainly run by store manager Tim Wright, who now has a more secluded space to do his repairs.

The shop's hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; it is closed on weekends and holidays, and there is an elevator to access the lower level. More information here.