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I live in Ireland and we only have resellers. No official Apple Store :( Every time I go to London I go to an Apple Store there. I do know about the Genius Bar, One to One and other Apple Retail services though. I bought a SuperDrive for my MacBook Air in my local one a couple of weeks ago. My local one is ok. The guy who served me was very helpful.
 
My local repair shop is an authorized reseller and yes - I've made purchases from them. Nothing like a laptop, but small items like peripherals.
 
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