With the line holding such a dominate position in the makeup industry such that it does, you would think that they would be like Starbucks with a MAC Cosmetics Store on every other block. So just why is it then that their official company outlets are so far between and basically only located in larger cities?
The First MAC Cosmetic Store Opened In the Mid 1980's
The answers to these and so many other questions you may have along these lines are as follows. To begin with, the line began back in 1984 and for it's early years primarily catered to the needs of professional makeup artists and salon workers. People such as yourself hadn't really even heard of MAC Makeup back then.
MAC Gradually Moved To Market To the General Public
As they gradually moved to market to the public sector, the company chose to distribute their products through established mall retailers such as Nordstrom's, Dillard's and Macy's etc. Of course there always has been plans to put a MAC Cosmetics Store in every moderately sized city in the US, Canada and the UK, but when the Internet came along, that did change things somewhat.
Along Came the Internet and It's Much Lower Prices
You see, as far as their actual individual products are concerned, stores simply can't compete with online vendors. The cost of building the store, paying fees, insurance, utilities and employees wages all tacks onto the cost of everything thats sold out of a community based store of this type. Hence; This is why you will always pay more at one.
Find All Your MAC Cosmetics, Kits & Accessories Online
Be patient. A MAC Cosmetics Store is coming to a city near you eventually. However; for the time being you can find virtually everything that MAC produces in the way of cosmetics, kits & accessories online. In fact as it stands right now the only thing that a store can do that you can't find online is the professional makeup classes.