# B.Mac Ottawa?



## GrapeApe (Aug 4, 2004)

Anyone know what happened to B.Mac Ottawa?

I went there today to inquire about purchasing a 12" iBook and they are closed.

There was a sign on the front door telling people to call Apple for service inquiries and B.Mac Montreal for sales inquiries.

The inside was blocked off by temporary white wall but I couldn't tell what they were doing.

Is B.Mac Ottawa closing or just doing renovations?


----------



## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

That doesn't sound very encouraging, but I can't say that I'm surprised. BMac didn't exactly fall over itself to impress with service and product knowledge.


----------



## Alesh (Dec 10, 2001)

My sources tell me that apparently the store is closed for good.


----------



## GrapeApe (Aug 4, 2004)

Just wonderful.

I finally decide to jump into the Apple world and the only decent Mac store in Ottawa closes.


----------



## darkscot (Nov 13, 2003)

"decent" only applies to stores with caring, supporting customer service. from what i've experienced there, bmac doesn't meet the req's.


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Dang it, another Mac store bites the dust. I didn't even get a chance to buy anything from them while they were around.


----------



## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

What about The Mac Group?

I recall reading here several complaints about one of the Ottawa area mac retailers, but can't recall clearly which one it was about. Might it have been B Mac??


----------



## darkscot (Nov 13, 2003)

gripes about bmac for the service and gripes about the mac group for the prices.


----------



## neptune (Apr 27, 2003)

Perhaps the Mac Group have to charge a little more to offer the service. Maybe BMac had lower prices and therefor couldn't afford the service?


----------



## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

A quick check of Mac Group's used prices results in this:


----------



## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

Leaving aside BMac's problems with the way they sold and provided service, there's no question that Apple has made it very hard for third-party authorized Mac sellers to run a viable business. Stock is hard to get and too often, they're left holding the bag when new products are rolled out. 

One thing's for certain, if Apple (or even CarbonNation!) wants to open a store in Ottawa, they can now do so without facing any serious competition (no, BestBuy doesn't even come close).


----------



## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

I'd think that a city such as Ottawa would have a real need for a decent Apple retailer and that business would be alright (heck; even Toronto-based music retailer Long & McQuade is in Ottawa). 

How are things across the river in Hull?


----------



## VertiGoGo (Aug 21, 2001)

Ottawa is pretty much a Mac wasteland all the time. I bought my current eMac at CompuCentre in the Rideau Centre (across from HMV) and have always had fantastic service and support from them. 

I know it is an unlikely place to find Macs...but that location has done a great job of catering to the Mac lovers of Ottawa. BMac on the other hand...was always terrible in service and knowledge. If their sales staff was any more pathetic they would have asked customers to unload their trucks too.  It was always surprising, given that their Montreal stores have quite good service. Hell...I even wrote a complaint letter about the Ottawa store to management in Montreal once...their reply essentially told me to go and f**k myself and shop elsewhere. So, I did..thank you CompuCentre!!!   

All this aside...CARBON...GET YOUR CABOOSE IN GEAR & GET OUT HERE...FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

But in fairness...BMac chose a terrible west-end location in Ottawa. Merivale is a nightmare to get to unless you have a car...and it totally screwed over the Mac lovers in the east.


----------



## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

In your opinion, Vertigogo, where would the best locatio be for a new Mac store -- _aside_ from next door to your joint


----------



## Jason H (Feb 1, 2004)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

they were holding a power cord for me :-(


----------



## Jason H (Feb 1, 2004)

http://www.bmac.ca/english_site/index_english.html

damn, looks like its gone.


----------



## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

Hull has at least one Mac seller: InfoTek I believe they are called. They are located on Alexandre Taché blvd about 1 km past the Portage bridge, heading west. I've never been in there, but it looks puny. No website, either. I think they're primarily technical support, sales second from the looks of it.

EDIT: Here we go, they're called Informatique Logitek


----------



## Neil Yates (Aug 10, 2001)

Hrm, no wonder the manager never called me back regarding my Dual 1.8 Rev.B G5 swap. Got the system, but bottom CPU falls out. Was supposed to get a call when the replacement system arrived - never did. I went to the site URL and it seems up. No replies to phone calls. Is there any confirmation that bMac ottawa is closed for good? Also explains why my 20GB Gen4 iPod kind went MIA too during order. They apparently received it, but either they resold it to someone else, or ?


----------



## Gordon Eastman (Mar 28, 2003)

Kind of irrelevent now, but I had 3 unrelated warranty repairs at B.Mac Ottawa. All went smoothly and I found their service staff friendly and helpful.


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

> In your opinion, Vertigogo, where would the best locatio be for a new Mac store -- aside from next door to your joint


Next door to my place!  

Actually it seems all the Mac places are generally in the South-East area of Ottawa for some reason. There was a store in the Pinecrest mall once. NorthStar was by Pinecrest and then moved to Merivale. Compusmart and BMac were on Merivale. I'm not sure why?

As for Hull, I think the remnants of the Ordinateurs 2000 whichh sold Mac is somewhere over there.

I'd put a place on Bank Street - nice central location.

Compucenter has a nice central convenient location in Rideau Mall, but they're stock is dwindling.


----------



## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

CompuSmart on Merivale has a healthy selection of software and hardware. The folk there seem nice enough.


----------



## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


----------



## atFault (Jul 29, 2004)

As a prosumer I always found b.mac helpful and quick, though unknowledgeable about many products. I never went in not knowing what I was looking for so this was never a problem for me. Big kudos to b.mac for helping me out of a $4000 jam when I mistakenly ended up with two dual G5s. They sure didn't have to, but did so politely with no fuss.

I've been to the MacGroup and found they had the best price by hundreds of dollars on a graphic tablet. Never been there again, and the few times I've been there it feels like a bunch of computer geeks playing with computers all day—not that that's a bad thing. A good friend bought all her stuff from them and would likely not go anywhere else.

Just curious, but where are all these 'Mac' places in the south-east area? I live in the east and find that most are around Merivale area. A shorter trip to a quality Mac sales and service dealer would be very welcome.


----------



## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

Compusmart near Hunt Club Drive. Their selection is pretty good, but don't rely on their sales staff for product knowledge.


----------



## Strongblade (Jul 9, 2001)

Compucentre in the Rideau Centre is no longer. It is now a CompuSmart.

No sign of Michél, Compucentre Rideau's Owner. The only sign they were ever there is a few plaques on the wall.  

That said, CompuSmart had a posting there that they are looking for a Mac Specialist. So they may just be converted from Compucentre or bought out by CompuSmart.

I didn't recognise a single staff member though. So i have no idea how it is.

They still had a Mac section, however. It wasn't very big, but it's there.


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

> Just curious, but where are all these 'Mac' places in the south-east area? I live in the east and find that most are around Merivale area.


Damn, got my directions wrong again, I meant south-west, ie. on Merivale. Keep on forgetting I'm in the east.



> Compucentre in the Rideau Centre is no longer. It is now a CompuSmart.


Geez, I have to get out to the malls more often. I'll have to check the place out now that it's a Compusmart.


----------



## VertiGoGo (Aug 21, 2001)

> In your opinion, Vertigogo, where would the best locatio be for a new Mac store -- aside from next door to your joint


If a Mac reseller was going to come to Ottawa, it should be centrally located in the downtown core...possibly at the Rideau Centre or in a store-front location along Bank Street or in the Glebe. That would make it accessible to people all over the city because this is where bus routes and the Transitway all converge. 

Depending on where one went in, parking could be an issue...but the pay lots attached to and around the Rideau Centre are not that expensive and the street parking around Bank Street and in the Glebe is manageable. 

Whatever shop that might go in need not be a huge beast, a smaller store with a good selection of hardware and software would go a long way in the city. 

My two cents.

And yes, it would appear B.Mac's Ottawa store is gone for good...it's no longer listed on their web site. You can see right here.


----------



## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

Yeah, Bank street would be ideal -- it'd be especially nice that's where my office is located.  I could spend my lunch-breaks drooling over the hardware.

Maybe that wouldn't be a good idea...


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

This also explains why I didn't get any response back from my phone call to B.Mac about SATA HDs and RAM for my future G5 DP2.5Ghz. I thought they were just being rude and not replying to their phone messages. Looks like I'll have to contact Compusmart at Rideau Centre and see what they want for RAM (I'd like to buy the RAM in Ottawa in case I have to take it back), and see the Canadian MacWarehouse or Macdoc about SATA HDs when I finally get my G5 DP2.5Ghz.


----------



## Croptop (Apr 20, 2004)

> So they may just be converted from Compucentre or bought out by CompuSmart.


Just as a little bit of background information, Compucentre and Compusmart are and have always been branches of the same company. The old strategy was to put Compucentres in malls where there was high traffic and plenty of impulse buyers and locate the Compusmarts in more isolated locations and cater to the more technically savvy customers.

I must sheepishly admit that I used to moonlight at a Compusmart on weekends to feed my PC hardware and game habit.


----------



## Neil Yates (Aug 10, 2001)

> I must sheepishly admit that I used to moonlight at a Compusmart on weekends to feed my PC hardware and game habit.


Ditto here.

I saw Michel at the compusmart at the Rideau center a few months back. Talked to him; we've known each other on and off for the better part of a decade. He still owns the store.

I picked up a Griffin iLight there, an iTalk, Soundtrack 1.2, a SATA HD, and various other things. Decent selection of mac accesories there. I also got C&C: Generals for Mac there. For a downtown mall, I can't complain.


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

> I picked up a Griffin iLight there, ... a SATA HD,


Hmmm... maybe I'll check them out for the SATA HD as well then. Them being mostly PC people, I didn't think they'd have a SATA HD.


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Yep, Michel still owns the store... the store doesn't seem to be able to run without him. 

I stopped by to buy a couple new games and 2 - 512MB RAM sticks for my soon to arrive G5. The staff seemed to be a little green, hopefully they ordered the right RAM. They said I could bring it back if it didn't work so I was a little bit calmed down by that considering they were so green.

They had a great selection of iPod accessories. A small but good selection of Mac stuff.

They commented that by becoming a Compusmart they are able to get a better selection of product in.


----------



## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

> Them being mostly PC people, I didn't think they'd have a SATA HD.


SATA hard drives are cross-platform and existed on the PC before they existed in Macs - why would them being more PCish affect their stock of SATA hard drives?


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

> SATA hard drives are cross-platform and existed on the PC before they existed in Macs - why would them being more PCish affect their stock of SATA hard drives?


I meant PCs tend to use use ATA Hds.

And by the way, they said they didn't have any SATA HDs in stock... so that goes to show you...


----------



## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Uhh...high end PCs have been using SATA drives since the middle of last year. I'd just check for another store that has better inventory controls.


----------



## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

FYI, for those believing the Bank St. (esp. Glebe area) should have a Mac dealer - they did. It was called Start Computing - it was on Bank St. near Fifth avenue. I bought two clamshell iBooks there. They went out of business around the time B.Mac opened.

One thing I don't understand - why didn't B.Mac advertise? I never saw a flyer, heard a radio ad, read a newspaper ad, etc. It seems all too common that Mac-only dealers don't do anything to market the platform. They claim margins are tight, but then why do I see and hear ads for OEM shops that operate on razor-thin margins.


----------



## Hooch (Mar 2, 2004)

For what it's worth, I do remember seeing some pretty nice (glossy, colour, the whole bit) b.Mac ads inserted into the Citizen a while back.

The Mac Group does put ads in there too. They're usually at the bottom of the front page of the Business section, I think.

I haven't been into TMG yet -- any thoughts on what the place is like?

- Hooch


----------



## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Yep, I remember seeing B.Mac adverts in the Citizen.


----------

