Apple shocks dealers with retail move

A senior Apple Computer Inc. executive told Mac resellers less than a month ago that the company had no plans to open retail stores in the near future, said a dealer who attended the meeting. Apple (aapl) now appears to be going ahead with such plans, starting with a retail outlet in Palo Alto, Calif. Tom Santos, general manager of Macadam, a San Francisco Apple reseller, told MacWEEK that he attended an Oct. 23 meeting of Apple Specialist store managers in which Tim Cook, Apple senior vice president of worldwide operations, assured attendees that the company would not open retail stores. "The impression from the October meeting was that Tim Cook is a nice guy that (Apple CEO) Steve (Jobs) was listening to. And now that appears not to be the case," Santos said. Full story to follow. -- David Leishman, MacWEEK.com