The 30-year-old company, which also offered small business IT support, will close its service center on July 31 and its retail center on August 15, ,according to Bloomberg. All 79 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closing.
In many ways, Tekserve was New York City's Appple Genius Bar long before Apple opened its famed retail stores. Tekserve has been an Apple Authorized Service Center since 1987. More recently, the company's innovative SMB support service included a Corporate Service Portal -- a "self-ticketing repair offering enables you to send in product(s) to be serviced without leaving the office."
Hardly surprising, Apple direct sales business model has squeezed Tekserve in recent years -- long after many independent Apple dealers were either cut off from the market or closed up shop on their own.
Apple started slashing its dealer network as far back as 1997 when the company was struggling to survive. By 2001, the first Apple Stores -- retail outlets operated by the computer maker -- emerged. In 2003, numerous Apple dealers were filing suit against the company -- alleging anticompetitive practices.
Still, there was no reversing Apple's direction. The big hit involved Apple Genius Bars -- which typically delivered a world-class customer experience directly from the computing giant. There are now at least six Apple Stores in Manhattan, according to Google Maps.
Mac MSPs Live On
Many Mac-centric MSPs have avoided the intense retail competition -- instead offering managed services to the Apple crowd and design-centric customers. Successful Mac-centric MSPs include Forget Computers, which made the transition to managed services in 2006.
Most of the major RMM (remote monitoring and management) software providers have also enhanced their Mac OS and iOS support in recent years.
