Simply Mac, the chain of authorized Apple Reseller and Service Provider stores owned by Gamestop, is closing a number of stores across the United States. While the exact number of closings isn’t known, locations in North Carolina, North Dakota, Montana, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Idaho, Maryland, South Dakota, and more are closing this week.
The exact reason behind the shuttering of the locations isn’t known, but parent company Gamestop is likely looking to cut costs, after reporting that holiday sales for the video game reseller were down 16.4% year-over-year.
While reports from a number of local papers indicate the reason behind the closings is Apple’s ending of its agreement with the chain, Simply Mac says that is not true.
Valley News Live in Fargo reported the local mall there announced the following:
FROM WEST ACRES MALL:
Good Afternoon –
We wanted to reach out to you with news of another change at West Acres. As of today, Simply Mac has closed. Simply Mac opened at West Acres in August 2014 and we’ve enjoyed having them as part of the West Acres family. The closure is due to the Apple Corporation ending its national agreement with Simply Mac to sell them Apple product, making it impossible for them to continue…
In response to reports such as these, GameStop manager of corporate communications told the Billings, MT Reporter-Telegram by email:
“As GameStop announced in its holiday sales release, the company continues to focus on the execution of our business transformation plan, which includes growing our non-gaming businesses and right-sizing our global store portfolio across all our retail brands. This involves evaluating and closing non-productive locations. The closure of this Simply Mac store is part of that strategy.”
The company also took to Twitter to deny that its relationship with Apple had been terminated.
No matter the reasons behind the store closings, they reportedly happened with little to no notice to the employees. The Reporter-Telegram reports employees were told earlier this week that the store there would close this coming Sunday.
Gamestop purchased full control of the Simply Mac chain in November 2013, and soon after announced an aggressive plan to open additional stores around the country. The Apple reseller chain specialized in opening locations in areas considered not large enough to support an actual Apple retail store.
