It Was All Over When Steve Saw Those iPods Next to the Mayonnaise Kegs

As tactics go, Apple’s decision to end its partnership with Costco is quite a bit less surprising than its decision to work with the warehouse chain in the first place. The Seattle Times reports that the retailer is slowly phasing out sales of iPods and iTunes gift cards. Said Costco CFO Richard Galanti, “In the past couple months, we agreed to wind down.”

The two companies’ arrangement has been stagnant for some time now, and while it’s not clear what exactly brought it to an end, it seems reasonable to assume that the retailer’s exclusion from a series of distribution deals that brought the iPhone and iPad to Target and Wal-Mart may have had something to do with it.