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Spartan Tech Center to open downtown

June 15, 2011

East Lansing residents will have a new place to take their technology-related problems when a computer repair store opens at 228 Abbot Road.Spartan Tech Center will be filling the vacancy left by Swirlberry and is owned by Adna Technologies, a Lansing-based company that offers information technology services. The store will open for business sometime next week, with a more formal store opening happening in mid- to late July.

Nathan Robertson, owner of Adna Technologies and an MSU alumnus, said initially the store will offer just computer repairs, but eventually will expand to offering services for other technologies.

“We’re going to be focused on basic maintenance of computers, viruses and repairs,” Robertson said. He added the new store location will service a need in the area that has been largely ignored.

“We finally decided on (an East Lansing) location because the student population is underserved as far as our services are concerned,” Robertson said.

The store still needs to hire and train several employees before opening its doors for business. Spartan Tech Center will employ five part-time staff members, and Robertson said he hopes to hire some MSU students.

“We want to try and work with the student population both as a business and as an employer,” he said.

A spokesperson for MSU Computer Help and Repair declined to comment, but Robertson said he would like to work with the center, in the hope that the store would outsource more difficult computer repairs to Spartan Tech Center.

Jeff Ballor, owner of Computer Redicare, 5937 Shaw St., in Haslett, said the opening of Spartan Tech Center will increase the competition in the industry, but he doesn’t anticipate a loss of student customers.

“I think most students go to local stores in East Lansing anyway,” he said.

Microbiology senior Kevin Petersen said he doesn’t usually get his personal computer serviced, but when he does, he usually takes it to Best Buy or MSU Computer Help and Repair in the MSU Computer Center.

Petersen said he might utilize the new store if he had a major hardware problem that couldn’t be resolved with a simple fix.

Before Spartan Tech Center opens, Robertson said he still has some details to work out to ensure the store runs smoothly during the first few months.

“By the time Welcome Week rolls around, we hope we’ll be a well-oiled machine,” he said.

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