If it is indeed planned, it's very important that they communicate their strategy. Lack of communication from Apple was something that other resellers echoed, but wasn't regarded as anything out of the ordinary from a company which guards corporate strategy and product plans with the utmost secrecy. Other resellers often have difficulty doing this when the necessary parts aren't always available, he said. Apple has an advantage in this regard. I think they'll definitely see a lot of people wanting to go directly through them.
Retail is a different ballgame than web ordering and fulfillment of orders.
The retailer speculated that this new strategy is being brought on by Millard Drexler, the Gap CEO who joined Apple's board of directors in May 1999. The margins of Gap and the margins of Apple are very different. Rumors are moving about at lightening speed as to what locations Apple is looking at for its next store. He also pointed to rumors which name Michigan Avenue in Chicago as a possible location for an Apple store. Another informant named an additional major US metro area which Apple is attempting to lease a building in.