Oak Park Takes Bite out of Apple

More than a year after Oak Park suggested the notion of bringing an Apple store to Oak Park, the idea finally has borne fruit.

MacSpecialist, billing itself as the premiere Apple reseller in the Chicago metro area, has opened at 805 Lake St., the former site of a Baird & Warner real estate office.

All manner of products like iPads and Mac computers, as well as third-party accessories, will be sold there, except for the iPhone. But the phone can be serviced there, store manager Justin Thomas said.

Folks for the first time can play with Apple products instead of having to take a ride to Oak Brook or jump on the El and head for Chicago.

Thomas said last year Oak Park contacted Apple about opening a store that would offer an entire line of products and training on using them. Oak Park wanted a retail store to locate in the high-traffic area of Lake Street and Harlem Avenue, where a Borders Books and Music had operated for years until it closed a year ago.

Village officials at the time felt the Borders location - near two colleges and in with the demographics of communities like Oak Park and River Forest - would have generated a lot of traffic.

But Thomas said Apple stores already had saturated the area, but opening a MacSpecialist, which already has one location in Villa Park, seemed a perfect fit.