First Computer Store

As Fred Cisin writes: "Yes, as usual, all such claims are meaningless without term definitions. What Murray was referring to was arguably the first PERSONAL computer store, and run as a retail storefront. IBM did do some retail sales, although they might not have called it "retail", out of their building. Even "first" and "store" could use some restrictive definition: Do sales out of a living room count? garage? corner of another kind of store? (there already seems to be an exclusion of mail-order) If a grocery store clears space in an aisle does that count? Did Ed Roberts have a front counter, and handle walk-in? Assembled working systems? or do kits count? Signing lease? Acquiring retail inventory? Opening of doors to the public? First retail sale? First Order? or First Delivery?" **************************************** What I was attempting to say in my post was that the first computer store was a retail outlet that sold MICROCOMPUTERS, and/or PERSONAL computers and/or SMALL computers all we could carry around without doing physical detriment to one?s self.[I shopped at Canada's first computer store on 44 Eglinton West, Toronto, and to this day I'm not sure of the name or date it started] I realize there?s many a definition of what one could call a computer store but I would describe it as a ?unique? place that sold computers exculsively as I?ve described herein. We?re talking only a limited number of machines available as of mid-1975. (Please refer to my book: A Historical Research Guide to the Microcomputer: Small Computers of a Bygone Era, p. 43.) Prior, one had mail-order option only or as major computer corporations, IBM, DEC, etc., selling ?computers? or computer parts/peripherals as a retail operation in name only as Fred describes above. Hobbyists as far as I know didn?t buy from IBM or DEC(well, maybe rich ones bought their mini-computers) and when computer stores opened hobbyists had a hand-holding-entity to further their interest in a new industry. This changed somewhat when Tandy(Radio Shack), et al. came on the scene. Happy computing. Murray :)