The iconic tech repair store Tekserve sold and fixed Macs and other Apple devices of all kinds in Manhattan for 29 years.  It shut its doors to regular customers this month. Part of the reason Tekserve is closing shop? Apple stores — and the internet — are taking its business.

“I’d say we had a good run,” said Tekserve founder and owner Dick Demenus. “But the world changed around us. Some of those forces were pretty insurmountable, like the internet.  Brick and mortar were challenged everywhere, and it finally hit us. People could buy things a lot cheaper online from places that have warehouses in a low-rent area.”

One of Tekserve’s vintage radios, up for auction.

Ben Johnson/Marketplace

But the store isn’t going before auctioning off its pretty massive collection of old radios, microphones, a human-sized blue robot, and lots of old Macs—some functional, and some not. 

“It looks like a Salvador Dali,” Demenus said of one Macintosh for sale that was damaged in a fire before coming to Tekserve for data retrieval. 

A Macintosh that was in a fire before going to Tekserve for data retrieval.

Ben Johnson/Marketplace

“Partially melted, folding in on itself. I think it’s beautiful,” he said. 

The auction begins at 11 am today, and it’s worth stopping by if you’re in the market for an old Mac or an old microphone (!), or just to get a sense of our technology history.