This is Jennifer of @riverdalemac (standing next to her happens to be one of their friendly regular customers who was kind enough to agree & pose for our profile shot). This store opened in 1995. Myles Kesten (the owner)originally wanted to open a book store, however the market wasn’t a great place to start a book store in the 90s as there were many changes being made in the industry with the rise of Indigo/Chapters and the like. So he opened an electronic book store called The CD ROM store instead, where they sold software to families in the neighbourhood.
They eventually expanded to providing to libraries & schools around the country. The store managed to stand out by not only providing PC software but Mac software as well; which at the time was quite the novelty. Customers soon made requests that they start selling Apple products, so they submitted a business plan to Apple and started to sell them in 2005. Their first Apple product was iPods at Christmas, which were all the rage.
They eventually started selling computers and also expanded into a service center. They now sell all Apple products apart from phones. A second location was opened in the Beaches in 2007 and a third in Bloor West Village in 2012. That location has since moved to Roncesvalles. The business is now 22 years old. The owner originally is from this neighbourhood and this location remains one of their favorite neighbourhoods in this city.
Jennifer’s been a part of the business for the past 20 yrs and Riverdale particularly holds a special place in her heart. She says she loves the people here most because as you get to know the people in the community better through seeing what they are using their devices for, she feels they are changing the world day by day. And that amazes her.