# Apple's first Canadian flagship store! - Montreal, QC



## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

I just saw this on Appleinsider.com, this is great news!

Appleinsider - Source: Apple to build double-decker flagship in Montreal


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Ooh la la... not far from where I work...


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

If this is true, it means that Toronto isn't the center of the universe.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

But we knew that already.


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## mikeinmontreal (Oct 13, 2005)

Ste.Catherine and Mountain. What's there now?


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

According to Google maps, 1300 block would be near de la Montagne street. Wonder which building they would be retrofitting. Next time I visit Montreal, will have to do a walk by in the area.


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## jaline (Jul 7, 2007)

Well, at least it's closer to me than Toronto.


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## Fen (Nov 26, 2004)

I'll be travelling to Montreal for the opening of that one! It's good to see that downtown Montreal will be getting a huge store, but I think Vancouver should get a nice big flagship store too.


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## mikeinmontreal (Oct 13, 2005)

Ants, make sure you don't stumble into one of 3,000 strip bars by accident


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Sounds like it would be across from Ogilvy's. I don't remember exactly what stores are there right now - but it's likely a bunch of forgettable shoe & clothing boutiques.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

mikeinmontreal said:


> *Ants*, make sure you don't stumble into one of 3,000 strip bars by accident


Proving again that there are no such things as an AccidAnts.


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

I know, it's a shock to see that Toronto wasn't receiving the flagship. Montreal doesn't even have an Apple store to begin with! Obviously, the Laval store isn't that far off but considering how many post production houses are downtown Montreal, not to mention the schools, it's interesting to see that their needs will be right next door!

Good job, Apple.


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## Bighead (May 3, 2005)

mikeinmontreal said:


> Ants, make sure you don't stumble into one of 3,000 strip bars by accident


WHAT???!!! Apple store to be next door to Chez Paree??? :clap: :clap: :lmao: :lmao:


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## Fen (Nov 26, 2004)

Johnny Melano said:


> I know, it's a shock to see that Toronto wasn't receiving the flagship. Montreal doesn't even have an Apple store to begin with! Obviously, the Laval store isn't that far off but considering how many post production houses are downtown Montreal, not to mention the schools, it's interesting to see that their needs will be right next door!


Not too much of a shock. Here in Toronto we have so many people spread across a pretty large area. I think we're better served with 4 or 5 decent sized stores spread out over the GTA. I would guess only a matter of time before Square One in Mississauga gets one.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

The Doug said:


> Sounds like it would be across from Ogilvy's. I don't remember exactly what stores are there right now - but it's likely a bunch of forgettable shoe & clothing boutiques.


Could it be next to Ogilvy's, at the corner of Crescent? What's there now? All I can see from the Google Maps hybrid view is a large-ish building, but I'm drawing a blank as to what's there.

Anyway, seems like a generally well chosen location no matter what the specific building is. The amount of pedestrian traffic around there is *huge*.


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

Bighead said:


> WHAT???!!! Apple store to be next door to Chez Paree??? :clap: :clap: :lmao: :lmao:


Too funny, I could catch the afternoon shows, take advantage of the free roastbeef buffet and buy a computer!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Fen said:


> Not too much of a shock. Here in Toronto we have so many people spread across a pretty large area. I think we're better served with 4 or 5 decent sized stores spread out over the GTA. I would guess only a matter of time before Square One in Mississauga gets one.


Screw that. New York has a Cube, Toronto wants an Apple Orb and Sceptre.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

I wouldn't be surprised to see another Apple store or two in the GTA area either - whether a flagship store or not.

Typically, the Apple mall stores seem to be about 6000-7000 square feet, with the flagship stores usually much larger (Regent St. is 26,000 square feet, for instance) so the Montreal store is actually on the small side for a flagship.

I would imagine that the decision to build stand-alone stores/flagship stores vs. stores in malls is based on not only the potential market, but also the available suitable real estate. Clearly, in the case of some of the stores visibility is as much a factor as anything. Cost doesn't seem to be a huge part of the equation, since Yorkdale charges an average of $980/sq. foot, although it's also one of their smaller stores at just over 3,000 sq. ft.

Have no idea how big the stores at the Eaton Centre and Sherway are...

All sorts of info and rumors here (though nothing about the Montreal store - that slipped under the radar!):

ifo Apple Store - Apple Stores Now & In The Future


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

HowEver said:


> Screw that. New York has a Cube, Toronto wants an Apple Orb and Sceptre.


Already got 'em.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Macaholic said:


> Already got 'em.


Scarily, that is what I had in mind; only difference would be the Apple store would take us to the top with a winning team of products, while the Rogers Centre/CN Tower...


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

heh-heh


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

Fen said:


> Not too much of a shock. Here in Toronto we have so many people spread across a pretty large area. I think we're better served with 4 or 5 decent sized stores spread out over the GTA. I would guess only a matter of time before Square One in Mississauga gets one.


Sherway takes care of the West end, Eatons Centre takes care of the central/south end and Yorkdale takes care of the north. Carbon is pretty close to an Apple store aesthetically with service and demo's on floor and they more than take care of the east end. Not to mention, 10-20 other Apple authorized resellers/service centres in between. I think Apple just covers more ground that way. It would of been nice to have a flagship store but from a business/marketing perspective, this makes more sense in the GTA. And yes, I am waiting for SQ1 to get one as well but I think Sherway is awefully close. 

Congrats Montreal! Only if they had one when I used to attend Concordia ;(


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## Fen (Nov 26, 2004)

Sherway is close, but I think Square One is a safe distance where they wouldn't harm Sherway's sales too much. A centralized Mississauga location is good, especially considering the lack of Resellers besides Best Buy & Futureshop where Macs are pretty much a second thought.


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

Isn't MacDoc in Mississauga?


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## Crewser (Jun 12, 2007)

If the east part of the GTA were to get an Apple Store then my money would be on the Scarborough Town Centre. Then again last time I checked I owed a lot of money so my guess may not be valid.

Congrats to Montreal. A bit to far to go visit an Apple store only, but if I ever find myself close I'd surely visit.

I was in Montreal for the big NO rally years ago. I guess I was blind, or the strip joints weren't as plentiful as they are now, because I do not recall seeing any. 

Steve


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

There are plenty of strip joints, especially on St-Catherine. They're infamous for being flamboyant and easy to spot, I guess that's why everyone's poking fun.


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## Fen (Nov 26, 2004)

Johnny Melano said:


> Isn't MacDoc in Mississauga?


Perhaps I'm wrong, but isn't MacDoc run out of "MacDoc's" house? If so, it's not exactly your typical shopping experience.


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## macsackbut (Dec 15, 2004)

Assuming this rumour turns out to be true, I must say I'm pretty surprised, though pleasantly so. Does this news mean (again, assuming it's true) that the Laval Apple Store is doing really well? 

Apple must see a huge opportunity in Montreal to put a flagship store here, non?


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

macsackbut said:


> Assuming this rumour turns out to be true, I must say I'm pretty surprised, though pleasantly so. Does this news mean (again, assuming it's true) that the Laval Apple Store is doing really well?
> 
> Apple must see a huge opportunity in Montreal to put a flagship store here, non?


I'm pretty surprised at this. I mean, I've never really seen Apple computers doing very well in Montreal, not like in Toronto. Flame me all you want but, up to 1992, I knew almost all of the handful of Apple dealers on the island and they never seemed to be doing all that well. 

My bet for an Apple "flagship" would now be Calgary or Vancouver.


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## Phil_MTL (Nov 26, 2004)

*First glimpse*

Photograph of the BCBG clothing store located in the building at 1300 Sainte-Catherine ouest.

http://www.imtl.org/image.php?id=2826

Source: www.macquebec.com


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Phil_MTL said:


> Photograph of the BCBG clothing store located in the building at 1300 Sainte-Catherine ouest.
> 
> 1300 SAINTE-CATHERINE O Magasins Ville-Marie (Centre-Ville) Montreal


"In the 1300 block" isn't at all the same as "taking over the BCBG space at #1300." 

I'd be surprised if that turns out to be the actual location. But if it does, at least those ugly awnings will be gone...


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

macsackbut said:


> Assuming this rumour turns out to be true, I must say I'm pretty surprised, though pleasantly so. Does this news mean (again, assuming it's true) that the Laval Apple Store is doing really well?
> 
> Apple must see a huge opportunity in Montreal to put a flagship store here, non?


Maybe. Long-term, they probably plan to have a high-visibility location in every city over a certain size. It could just be that they judge this a good time to take the plunge here. Or even just that one of their shortlisted spaces happens to have become available before a coveted space in Vancouver or wherever. Luck of the draw, as it were.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Dunno, I think the Le Château location seems more likely.


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## singingcrow (May 6, 2005)

iMatt said:


> "In the 1300 block" isn't at all the same as "taking over the BCBG space at #1300."
> 
> I'd be surprised if that turns out to be the actual location. But if it does, at least those ugly awnings will be gone...


I agree. I can't see them legally being able to cover such a beautiful historic building in stainless steel. The stores just in from that though, perhaps....

Oooohhhh! This is going to be dangerous.... I can actually walk there. :yikes:


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## macsackbut (Dec 15, 2004)

IronMac said:


> I'm pretty surprised at this. I mean, I've never really seen Apple computers doing very well in Montreal, not like in Toronto.


Actually, I am too. Although it's not based in fact, it has always been my opinion that Quebecers have been reluctant to adopt Apple. Which is why I'm so pleasantly surprised about this so-calld news. 

Perhaps they just felt Montreal was ripe for the picking (ahem). Or maybe it is as iMatt says, and they've had stores like this in mind all over the place and the real-estate has just come available here first.


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## singingcrow (May 6, 2005)

macsackbut said:


> Actually, I am too. Although it's not based in fact, it has always been my opinion that Quebecers have been reluctant to adopt Apple. Which is why I'm so pleasantly surprised about this so-calld news.
> 
> Perhaps they just felt Montreal was ripe for the picking (ahem). Or maybe it is as iMatt says, and they've had stores like this in mind all over the place and the real-estate has just come available here first.


I don't know... Almost everyone I know here in Montreal either has a mac or is coveting one. Anyone who is reluctant is stuck on the price myth more than the system.

The location itself is perfect. Yes there are four major universities here, but Concordia University promotes macs in many of their departments, from film to music, etc.. And Concordia just happens to be a few blocks away.

Another thought I had, was Montreal is also a tourist hub practically all year round. Not only would they get Montrealers, but the tourists as well.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

singingcrow said:


> ...Concordia University promotes macs in many of their departments, from film to music, etc...


Actually Macs aren't nearly as prevalent as they used to be, where staff usage is concerned - now they're found only in specialised departmental pockets here & there. A few years ago there was (to put it a certain way) _an upper level admin decision_ to banish Macs from offices. Tsk, tsk. Students however may use whatever they wish, and there are loads of Macs all over, and the computer store sells the full edu line.


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## singingcrow (May 6, 2005)

Oh. I didn't know this. I guess I know more of the students, old and young, and I've done some recording for someone in the sound studios too where I saw mac prevailing.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

singingcrow said:


> I can't see them legally being able to cover such a beautiful historic building in stainless steel.


I think they could get away with that if they really wanted to. That particular building just doesn't seem to fit the rumoured ~9,000 square feet on two levels, even with the addition you can see to the rear.

I'd also be skeptical of the Le Château space next door, mainly because it also has four and a half levels. The transformation would have to be really radical.

Assuming the rumour is true in the first place, I'd look for something boxier, with two or three sides visible from the street.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

singingcrow said:


> The location itself is perfect. Yes there are four major universities here, but Concordia University promotes macs in many of their departments, from film to music, etc.. And Concordia just happens to be a few blocks away.


I think that the three major universities downtown have their own computer stores selling Macs. There was a chain of store...B.Mac(?) that failed a couple of years ago and they had a location on Ste. Catherine near Carre Phillip.

Irving le Fou (or whatever they call it) also sold/sells Macs in a small section but pretty skimpy.

Anyone else remember the old Apple retailers in the downtown core? There was one in the Camelot-Info location on Carre Phillip and then there was one a couple of blocks east of The Bay on a side street who subsequently moved to the West Island. Saw my first Lisa there.


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## ericlewis91 (Jul 12, 2007)

*ok*

what about London,Ontario?


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

Here's an update! Shows the new location  Looks like it should be done next summer.

Apple to begin work on Montreal flaship this winter!


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

Fen said:


> Sherway is close, but I think Square One is a safe distance where they wouldn't harm Sherway's sales too much. A centralized Mississauga location is good, especially considering the lack of Resellers besides Best Buy & Futureshop where Macs are pretty much a second thought.


Well, there used to be CompuSmart but you are right, aside from Sherway (which pretty much lays on the border of Sauga and formerly Etobicoke), there is not much with regards to retail stores that are only Mac in Sauga. Oakville has Canadian Computer Outlet. I think a better goegraphical location would be Erin Mills Town Centre personally (even though I live across the street from SQ1).


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

IronMac said:


> I think that the three major universities downtown have their own computer stores selling Macs. There was a chain of store...B.Mac(?) that failed a couple of years ago and they had a location on Ste. Catherine near Carre Phillip.
> 
> Irving le Fou (or whatever they call it) also sold/sells Macs in a small section but pretty skimpy.
> 
> Anyone else remember the old Apple retailers in the downtown core? There was one in the Camelot-Info location on Carre Phillip and then there was one a couple of blocks east of The Bay on a side street who subsequently moved to the West Island. Saw my first Lisa there.


Crazy Irving Le Fou a.k.a. Crazy Irving's was the one a couple of blocks east of The Bay (on City Councillors St.?), which some years later moved to Phillips Square before becoming Compusmart. (I have no idea what kind of transaction that was -- Irving's might have been the "original" Compusmart for all I know.) So, Irving's on the West Island was another branch, possibly the first one, not a relocation. 

I remember Crazy Irving's well, because in the early days (1986 or so) they engaged in thinly veiled piracy by "lending evaluation copies" of software for a token amount (price of the floppy?).

Now with Compusmart gone and no non-university resellers to speak of downtown, an Apple store next door to Ogilvy's should work well.

There's also Collège Lasalle in that neck of the woods. I doubt they have their own on-campus store, but they do have a fairly high-profile fashion program. Dawson is not very far either.


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## macsackbut (Dec 15, 2004)

iMatt said:


> There's also Collège Lasalle in that neck of the woods. I doubt they have their own on-campus store, but they do have a fairly high-profile fashion program. Dawson is not very far either.


And don't forget the Cité de la multimédia, just down the hill in the west end of Old Montreal.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

iMatt said:


> Crazy Irving Le Fou a.k.a. Crazy Irving's was the one a couple of blocks east of The Bay (on City Councillors St.?), which some years later moved to Phillips Square before becoming Compusmart. (I have no idea what kind of transaction that was -- Irving's might have been the "original" Compusmart for all I know.) So, Irving's on the West Island was another branch, possibly the first one, not a relocation.


Are you sure that they moved over to Phillips Square? I just thought that they moved out to the West Island. The Phillips Square store was very barebones...when they got the first Mac in they had it sitting on a fold-out table with a couple of chairs. Hrmmm...maybe I should check the brochures I picked up...might have the store's name stamped on the back?



iMatt said:


> I remember Crazy Irving's well, because in the early days (1986 or so) they engaged in thinly veiled piracy by "lending evaluation copies" of software for a token amount (price of the floppy?).


I remember that! :lmao:


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

IronMac said:


> Are you sure that they moved over to Phillips Square? I just thought that they moved out to the West Island. The Phillips Square store was very barebones...when they got the first Mac in they had it sitting on a fold-out table with a couple of chairs.


There are many details I'm not sure about, but there are two things I am positive about: one is the location on City Councillors in the mid-to-late 80s; the second is Crazy Irving's being on Phillips Square in the late 90s and suddenly becoming Compusmart one fine day, with nothing but the name changing.

I knew somebody who worked there in the 80s, and spent more time in the store than I care to admit, so I know it was definitely Crazy Irving's, and definitely not on Phillips Square at that time.

More tidbits:

- There is a Wikipedia stub on Compusmart, in French. It says Crazy Irving's was the direct corporate predecessor to Compusmart, and the name change happened in 1999. (It also lists 1993 as the founding date, but I remember using early Macs there in the '80s.)

- The software "rental" went on until 1996! 
See CRAZY IRVING AGREES NOT TO RENT COMPUTER SOFTWARE WITHOUT LICENSE FROM PUBLISHERS - PR Newswire - HighBeam Research


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## singingcrow (May 6, 2005)

IronMac said:


> I think that the three major universities downtown have their own computer stores selling Macs. There was a chain of store...B.Mac(?) that failed a couple of years ago and they had a location on Ste. Catherine near Carre Phillip.
> 
> Irving le Fou (or whatever they call it) also sold/sells Macs in a small section but pretty skimpy.
> 
> Anyone else remember the old Apple retailers in the downtown core? There was one in the Camelot-Info location on Carre Phillip and then there was one a couple of blocks east of The Bay on a side street who subsequently moved to the West Island. Saw my first Lisa there.


I got my first mac from Bmac! Great little store, but no one knew it was there, blocking the church behind it. It was hard to find even if you did have the address.

Before FS started selling macs, it was hard to find a mac in this city. They were in obscure little shops, or you had to travel far to get there, or there was INSO (I think that's what it's called) - I'm not fond of it there. If there was anything more visible, I never saw it.

Macs are like those apartments that need to be seen, and once you do you'll get so excited, you'll want to move in right away. The Flag ship store, will definitely accomplish this, not too far from Westmount either.


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

The only Mac store I really went to was Microserve. 

I remember being in High School with those purple iMacs (yes, I'm young!) and seeing them at Dumoulin. That's when I wanted a PowerMac G4 

I bought my first PowerMac G4 over there. Sold that to a friend to get a PowerMac G5 within their first year of existence, had a PowerBook which got stolen then got a MacBook Pro. All this from Microserve, great store, somewhat knowledgeable people, but in the end their service was wack.

I hear good things about Microboutique but they didn't seem to care for my purchase, after all I was only buying a MacPro... They literally just didn't want to help me out with the price at all, even after I found a competitor with a better deal (when buying a highly priced system, that is important.) 

I don't think the Apple store will really grab to the professionals, especially not a flagship store. I think it's more to lour the kids in like a candy shop, impress the new-comers and convert them. Professionals may go there for software and small accessories since it'll probably be the best place for it, but I personally wouldn't go there to buy my system. It just doesn't make sense, since they sell Apple *only* RAM and internal hard disks, making the price ridiculous.

Either way, it'll be cool to see, fun to go to and it should attract a lot of switchers in the downtown area. Kudos!


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

iMatt said:


> Crazy Irving Le Fou a.k.a. Crazy Irving's was the one a couple of blocks east of The Bay (on City Councillors St.?), which some years later moved to Phillips Square before becoming Compusmart. (I have no idea what kind of transaction that was -- Irving's might have been the "original" Compusmart for all I know.) So, Irving's on the West Island was another branch, possibly the first one, not a relocation.
> ...


I had thought that Compucentre was the original Compusmart. Both were 'owned' by Hartco although Compucentre was a franchise operation.

I worked for the 'business' division of Compucentre in Toronto back in the mid-80's when we were in offices above Mr. Greenjeans in the Eaton Centre. After I left, they became Microage and moved east on Queen St., the other side of the DVP if I remember correctly.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

iMatt said:


> There are many details I'm not sure about, but there are two things I am positive about: one is the location on City Councillors in the mid-to-late 80s; the second is Crazy Irving's being on Phillips Square in the late 90s and suddenly becoming Compusmart one fine day, with nothing but the name changing.


Ok, the one on City Councillors (1460 City Councillors) was called Micro Systems Centrale which is what is stamped on the back of one of the first Mac brochures I have.

There was another store in Phillips Square that sold Apple computers in the early to mid-80s but I just don't know the name. I'll ask another Montreal expat who may know but since he's more into Wintel comps he might not be much help.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

singingcrow said:


> I got my first mac from Bmac! Great little store, but no one knew it was there, blocking the church behind it. It was hard to find even if you did have the address.
> 
> Before FS started selling macs, it was hard to find a mac in this city. They were in obscure little shops, or you had to travel far to get there, or there was INSO (I think that's what it's called) - I'm not fond of it there. If there was anything more visible, I never saw it.


Bmac wasn't too bad but, yeah, hard to find when their entrance was off to the side of a church. It almost seemed as if you were entering some sort of secret cabal.  

For such a "creative" city, Macs were really really hard to find. You only had two(?) locations in the downcore core, one in the eastern part of the Island (Microboutique), then, I think that there was your INSO in the West along with a store in the Dorval shopping centre (the aforementioned Micro Systems Centrale), one on Decarie, and maybe a couple of others. There was also that laughable experiment by Eatons to sell Apple computers (and others) through their "Business Centers".

At that time, ok, even now, every location had to be gotten to via public transit.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Johnny Melano said:


> The only Mac store I really went to was Microserve.


Was this the one on Decarie?



Johnny Melano said:


> I hear good things about Microboutique but they didn't seem to care for my purchase, after all I was only buying a MacPro...


Sounds like the same Microboutique to me! I purchased the family's first comp, an Apple IIe, from them when they were on Beaubien St. Good selection of stuff but they were very relaxed/negligent about sales and service.



Johnny Melano said:


> I don't think the Apple store will really grab to the professionals, especially not a flagship store. I think it's more to lour the kids in like a candy shop, impress the new-comers and convert them. Professionals may go there for software and small accessories since it'll probably be the best place for it, but I personally wouldn't go there to buy my system. It just doesn't make sense, since they sell Apple *only* RAM and internal hard disks, making the price ridiculous.


So, where should pros in Montreal go?


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Hrmmm...tempted to do a road trip to add to my collection of Apple Store Canada t-shirts. Only missing a Laval one...  

That location doesn't look too nice weatherwise and certainly no electrical outlets for an overnighter.


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## singingcrow (May 6, 2005)

IronMac said:


> Bmac wasn't too bad but, yeah, hard to find when their entrance was off to the side of a church. It almost seemed as if you were entering some sort of secret cabal.
> 
> For such a "creative" city, Macs were really really hard to find. You only had two(?) locations in the downcore core, one in the eastern part of the Island (Microboutique), then, I think that there was your INSO in the West along with a store in the Dorval shopping centre (the aforementioned Micro Systems Centrale), one on Decarie, and maybe a couple of others. There was also that laughable experiment by Eatons to sell Apple computers (and others) through their "Business Centers".
> 
> At that time, ok, even now, every location had to be gotten to via public transit.


Naw... INSO is somewhere on Parc Ave between Mile End, Parc Ex. and Little Italie, Not too hard to get to, just not a great atmosphere, and many of the sales crew there don't want to deal with the piddly stuff. You can get used ones there too, but it's very limited and never come with software - at least that's what I understood when I asked.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

IronMac said:


> Ok, the one on City Councillors (1460 City Councillors) was called Micro Systems Centrale which is what is stamped on the back of one of the first Mac brochures I have.


I can think of two possibilities to explain the discrepancy, as I very distinctly remember spending too much time at Crazy Irving's on City Councillors:

- Different time frames. Is your brochure from before 1986-87, when I was hanging around there?

- Is it possible that Micro Systems Centrale was the corporate name for the business and Crazy Irving's the "storefront name"?

The name Micro Systems Centrale doesn't ring a bell at all, FWIW...


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

iMatt said:


> I can think of two possibilities to explain the discrepancy, as I very distinctly remember spending too much time at Crazy Irving's on City Councillors:
> 
> - Different time frames. Is your brochure from before 1986-87, when I was hanging around there?
> 
> ...


LOL! The name Crazy Irving's doesn't ring a bell for me until later in the '90s or so, I think.

The brochure is from 1984 I think which was when the Mac was introduced. Oddly enough, I don't recall picking it up from there...could have sworn it came from the store on Carre Phillip. It's also one of those slim "tri-folds" that's not listed on the MacMothership website. Looks like a rarity! 

I do have a full Mac brochure, the one with Bill Gates and a couple of other software mavens, which I picked up around the same timeframe and which I am pretty sure came from the Carre Phillip store.

Grrr...I'm going to have to ask a couple of other people from Montreal who might know what is going on but they're all PC users.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

IronMac said:


> LOL! The name Crazy Irving's doesn't ring a bell for me until later in the '90s or so, I think.


Then I bet it's the timeframe. I paid no attention to any of this until the fall of 1986, when we got our first Mac. After that, my friend who worked for Crazy Irving's steered me to the City Councillors store. Hours of fun trying out various games, but I don't think I ever bought anything other than floppy disks there. Err... maybe I "rented" a game or two as well.


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## Fen (Nov 26, 2004)

> Confirmation of Apple’s plans to open a store on Saint Catherine Street in downtown *Montreal* comes in a strange way: three *parking meters* in front of the building. In its plans to the city, Apple has proposed to *remove* the meters at 1321 Saint Catherine to enhance the architecture of the building, and then to compensate the city about $6,640 a year for lost revenue. According to a story in the _Montreal Press_, the city has declined Apple’s offer, saying the meters not only generate revenue, but also force *rotation* of cars through the busy shopping district. A city spokesman said they are open to compromise, such as replacing several individual meters with a single payment terminal. However, complete removal of meters is not acceptable. The current *Boutique Mens* clothing store will close in November and move out, and Apple will then rebuild the structure as a 9,300 square-foot retail store, which could open by fall 2008.


ifoAppleStore - News and information about Apple Inc.'s retail stores

1321 Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest, Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3G, Canada - Google Maps


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## Betty Woo (Feb 5, 2005)

iMatt said:


> I can think of two possibilities to explain the discrepancy, as I very distinctly remember spending too much time at Crazy Irving's on City Councillors:
> 
> - Different time frames. Is your brochure from before 1986-87, when I was hanging around there?
> 
> ...


Oh. My. God. 'Crazy Irving'. What a blast from the not-so-distant past. I remember boxes of floppies, cheap fittings and geeky salespeople. And their in-your-face advertising handouts 

Wasn't there a bookstore that sort of doubled as a computer place right on Carré Philips? I seem to recall at least one of the guys there was a big Mac fan. A boyfriend of mine used to get his books down there and then we'd go and splurge more money on a slice of Dunn's cheesecake close by.

God. I miss Montreal :::sigh:::... or maybe my youth. Both?


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## Mu0n (Jun 19, 2020)

Old thread, but whenever I search for "Crazy Irving", this is one of the rare and only prominent results. I was about 7 years old when I went on the address on City Councillors Street. According to some 800kb disks from the era that I still have (and they still work on my original machine), the address was 1440 City Councillors Street. I've attached a pic of them, as well as what you could see from Google Street last year or so.

I have very fond memories of that place - always trying the newest games I could. I was always hungry for more games for our Mac Plus, but I also remember checking out the Amiga in its early days and being just floored by the fluid 3d animations it could churn out.

One of the many softwares we got from that place was Studio Session, a music composer that allowed 6 tracks of sampled digitized instruments, allowing for surprisingly rich music in glorious 11 kHz. Inside our 3 diskette bundle, there were some crude unfinished transcriptions of some Led Zeppelin songs (Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, etc). There were very partial, often only had 1 track to them. It felt like the beginning of some random client's doodling with the program (or maybe it was some employee's tests with it) - in any case, it was part of the stuff that we got. 
If you want to check out Studio Session, I recorded them from an emulator: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwCULB5sLmz0bEf62Z7lHcB0W7xLd-h-C[/ame]

if anyone ever reads this and is interested, I could also record these partial Led Zep songs as well!


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