And a golden parachute. They sure look out for themselves, don't they. So sad for the employees, wow...
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Apple Reseller 'Simply Mac' Shuts Down
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And a golden parachute. They sure look out for themselves, don't they. So sad for the employees, wow...
Maybe not that exact business model (although it could work), but many businesses were able to adapt and even grow even though the pandemic was unforeseen.
As if they didn't know this was coming. The stakeholders pocketed everything and are walking away while the employees are literally screwed and are left without jobs and pay they have already earned. Oh, and they have no recourse other than to wait a few years to see if any claims to the bankruptcy court are fulfilled. Meanwhile they stakeholders are sailing off in their yachts.
Apple reseller and service provider Simply Mac is apparently shutting down effective immediately after nearly sixteen years of business.
In a letter to employees today, obtained by MacRumors from multiple sources, Simply Mac CEO Rein Voigt said the company is shutting down its operations and terminating all employees effective immediately in anticipation of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States, which will result in complete liquidation of the company.
"Since our acquisition of Simply Mac from GameStop on September 25, 2019, we have worked hard as a team to grow our company to be North America's preeminent Apple Partner and provide our customers with transformational experiences that drive long-term loyalty," said Voigt, in the letter to employees. "However, we could not have possibly foreseen that on December 12, 2019 in Wuhan, China a world-wide pandemic would start and ultimately cause us to layoff half our workforce and close many of our stores."
Voigt said that Simply Mac's financial performance "never met our expectations" since the former GameStop subsidiary was acquired by Cool Holdings, Inc. in 2019. Due to "funding constraints," Voigt added that Simply Mac was "unable to adequately stock our stores with inventory or stay current with our financial obligations."
Voigt added that Simply Mac will be unable to pay employees tomorrow or in the future, and noted that all employees will receive a notice from the bankruptcy court in due course and have an opportunity to submit a claim, according to the letter.
As of January 2022, Simply Mac operated 53 retail stores across the United States. Many of Simply Mac's stores were located in cities that lacked an Apple Store, providing residents with a local alternative for Apple products and repairs.
Article Link: Apple Reseller 'Simply Mac' Apparently Shuts Down
And Apple's 'educational savings' too. $100 off? When I was working at a big ten university, some of the discounts were 50 to 60% on hardware, and near 90% on software. It was incredible to buy stuff at the computer store. They never had much on an inventory, so it took longer to get things, but the prices on some stuff were amazing. Except Apple. Occasionally you could get 'freebies' with your order, but when I was there, you got a free box.
No one would create a startup if they were personally liable. Also, it’s on the investors as well if a startup fails.
Don’t see anything weird about it. Didn’t even notice.
It's that particular framing and what it infers about his political views and all the likely downstream implications for the SM business and now collapse.
Worse yet was the "they can file claims" part: Cheated employees can file claims, but under US law, they have to line up after every single creditor the company has.
Horribly hard to make a profit reselling and repairing Apple products. Margins are next to nothing on sales. You have to pay techs near minimum wage to support repairing Apple stuff.
Nothing surprising here about not meeting financial goals.
Nothing surprising here about not meeting financial goals.
Absolutely. A bankruptcy lawyer knows how to advise a business as to how to wind down without screwing the employees. Shameful.
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I feel terrible for employees losing their jobs. But this company was pretty terrible.
They would sell $2.00 monoprice cables for around $20.00 (still marked as monoprice cables inside the packaging but outside of packaging would look like their own brand or something)
We bought a new MBA there once, within a few days some keys on the keyboard were popping off. Took it to them and they insisted it was “user error” being abusive so they would not cover it under warranty but would fix the 3 keys for around $100.00. and have to hold onto the laptop for up to a week. I called the nearest Apple store (about an hour away) told them I had a laptop with keys broken off. They said yeah bring it in. I asked do need an appointment? is it ok that it’s a machine I bought it somewhere else? what would it cost? how long would he need to hold onto it?
his response was. No worries man, it’ll take us like 5 minutes so you don’t need an appointment and no we don’t charge for a few keys, but even if we did it would be under warranty.
true enough I went to the apple store and walked out 10 minutes later with it fixed and never had issues with it again.
I kept running into spotty business practices over and over with Simply mac over the years. I’ve avoided them and advised others to do the same for over a decade at this point.
They would sell $2.00 monoprice cables for around $20.00 (still marked as monoprice cables inside the packaging but outside of packaging would look like their own brand or something)
We bought a new MBA there once, within a few days some keys on the keyboard were popping off. Took it to them and they insisted it was “user error” being abusive so they would not cover it under warranty but would fix the 3 keys for around $100.00. and have to hold onto the laptop for up to a week. I called the nearest Apple store (about an hour away) told them I had a laptop with keys broken off. They said yeah bring it in. I asked do need an appointment? is it ok that it’s a machine I bought it somewhere else? what would it cost? how long would he need to hold onto it?
his response was. No worries man, it’ll take us like 5 minutes so you don’t need an appointment and no we don’t charge for a few keys, but even if we did it would be under warranty.
true enough I went to the apple store and walked out 10 minutes later with it fixed and never had issues with it again.
I kept running into spotty business practices over and over with Simply mac over the years. I’ve avoided them and advised others to do the same for over a decade at this point.
When I read this, I thought the exact same thing -- why did management let the company get to a point where they could not make the current payroll? It seems simple to declare bankruptcy BEFORE you get to the situation where you are stiffing the workforce after the fact.
What An amazing coincidence that everything gamestops buys ends up bankrupt, first Think Geek and now Simply Mac??? Whyyy
Unless you differentiate your AASP from Apple in some way (e.g., pricing, location, turnaround, etc.), I don't see the benefit of going to one, especially if there's an Apple Store nearby.
They did not say that at all. This has nothing to do with Apple. Jesus!!!
As far as a correction from overstimulated I think that concept is flawed. When unemployment was nearly 7 percent and not moving and tens of millions of businesses were about to suddenly shut down permanently. The stimulus packages were survival packages that helped prevent a financial disaster it would take decades to recover from. Especially if we had another shutdown.
The current inflationary impact was expected when you go a year with little economic activity and zero travel , to a return to normal and a desire to catch up. Pentup demand and chip
Shortages created an unprecedented supply chain collapse that stems from a lack of regulation and being completely commercial industry dependent.
You are completely on point. Look at the take over of Toys R Us a few years ago. The company was successful and very profitable and the group that acquired them saddled them with an enormous debt load to extract all the value and closed it when the company was forced into bankruptcy because they couldn’t service the debt.
That should be criminal.
I hope that Apple considers buying the pieces during bankruptcy and maintaining a selection of stores - not branding as Apple Store, but as something else. There isn't an Apple store in the entire state of Montana... Simply Mac was the only Apple Premier Partner for full service... vs a 6 to 12 hour drive to an Apple Store, depending on where you live.
I'm in the fastest growing (%) area in the country, with an airport that has more than 2 million boardings per year (with tourists who might seek Apple device service), and now the nearest Apple service is 7 hours away. Apple clearly took advantage of Simply Mac filling so many geographic 'holes' by not giving them high enough margins... although clearly SM management were idiots if they could not project that they would run out of money today without being able to cover payroll. Bankruptcy court should deny management any compensation whatsoever.
I'm in the fastest growing (%) area in the country, with an airport that has more than 2 million boardings per year (with tourists who might seek Apple device service), and now the nearest Apple service is 7 hours away. Apple clearly took advantage of Simply Mac filling so many geographic 'holes' by not giving them high enough margins... although clearly SM management were idiots if they could not project that they would run out of money today without being able to cover payroll. Bankruptcy court should deny management any compensation whatsoever.
Planet Money had an interesting episode about how modern bankruptcy laws are ultimately good for the economy overall: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/10/04/555646290/episode-648-the-benefits-of-bankruptcy