Dear Friends,

It’s an official heat wave here in Vermont with temperatures over 90 for the past 4 days with humid, hot and hazy conditions. I am glad that I live in the woods on a mountain side because we always seem to have some shade and nice breeze. I do not have AC but yes, I sleep with my dogs; my bulldog is quite the bed warmer, which is nice in our long winters, but hey—Hammerhead stays away these days!

The strawberries were very early this year and yesterday, when I came home, Grace had picked a huge bowl of ripe blueberries! I love berries and blueberries are my favorite, so I have prime grazing at my house with blueberries for breakfast and snacks all day. We are expecting a break in the heat wave with some rain this weekend.

We now have some of each model of iPads in stock at our retail stores. This device continues to amaze me, both in its capabilities and the sales volume. We are already buying Verso cases for the fall to make sure we do not run out of stock. Come on in to either of our stores to see the new iPad.

I have some good news to announce. Our retail stores in S. Burlington and Waitsfield have been authorized as AT&T retailers and we will be adding AT&T products to our offerings over the next several weeks. We hope to be able to offer the iPhone, too, at these locations once all of the approvals are in place. We are also working on similar approvals for our new Manchester, NH location.

We have finalized our drawings and are in the permitting phase of the build out for the new store. In the meantime, Kerry and Katie are busy advertising for and locating staff for the new store. The marketing team is working on our marketing plan and the grand opening for this coming September if all goes according to plan. We are all very excited about this new store.

I have been sending Katie (who has been given the new title of Retail Experience Visionary) to some of our friends in the Apple Specialist community to see their stores and learn about best practices and get ideas for our own store. Apple Specialists are a very special type of retailer. I have not been in any industry where there is such a strong willingness and eagerness to share and to help each other succeed. I am very very proud to be an Apple reseller, but I am even more proud to be a part of the Apple Specialist community.