Macs and iPods get refuge in Northern Colorado

FORT COLLINS – Out with the old and in with the new – an adage that smashes nostalgia to make way for innovation.

That is somewhat the case for a little shop on College Avenue in Fort Collins. Many in the community were upset – ranging from mildly displeased to devastated – to hear that ABCDs music store, 157 N. College Ave., would shutter its doors earlier this year. However, it is likely that a range of emotion on the other end of the spectrum will result from the opening of the space’s new tenant. Northern Colorado will get its only Mac-centric retail and repair shop when the Mac Shack opens in early August.

“We had a store (in Fort Collins) before,´ said Randy Martin, owner of the Mac Shack. Martin referred to the company’s previous iteration as MediaGuide Computers, which was only open in south Fort Collins for about six months. Martin worked at MediaGuide’s Boulder location for four years before snagging the opportunity to purchase the site in 2000.

Martin took the Mac-centric base of MediaGuide and bulked up on product offerings to grow the Mac Shack. Just a few months ago, the store became an Apple authorized service provider – a process that started eight years ago. Martin said he really intensified his effort to gain the authorized status when the Fort Collins expansion materialized.

“It’s like having an Apple store up there, plus we have the used machines,” Martin said.

Other offerings not found at an Apple store but available at the Mac Shack include iPod repair and used equipment purchasing. Perhaps the only thing that the Mac Shack won’t be able to offer is assistance to PC owners.

“We don’t buy PCs, unfortunately,” Martin said.

The Fort Collins location will be the company’s first outside of Boulder. Martin said that they get many customers driving in from Northern Colorado and even as far as Cheyenne for Mac services. The problem, and opportunity, is that there are few options for Mac users north of Boulder.

Ironically, the Mac Shack will be moving in next to an existing computer repair service, All Brands Computer Service. Bill McClaflin has been operating All Brands out of a suite in 155 N. College Ave. since 2004, and as the name suggests he works on both PCs and Macs.

What’s more, McClaflin has been good friends with the Mac Shack guys for years – he even frequents their Boulder store when he needs specific parts.

“There’s no hard feelings,´ said McClaflin. “They’re strictly Mac, they don’t work on Windows machines.”

McClaflin said that about 85 percent of his business is dedicated to work on PCs, and he hopes that having the Mac Shack next door might even drive customers to his shop.

One missed list

There’s nothing better to lift one’s spirits in humdrum economic times quite like topping a list. Northern Colorado has received its share of accolades from various trade magazines – I won’t list them all, again.

But here’s one we missed – and a technology-related one, no less.

On June 24, technology industry trade association AeA released its Cybercities 2008 report. The AeA – formerly known at the American Electronics Association – compiled a detailed report of the high-tech industry in the “nation’s top 60 cities.” Both Boulder and Denver made good showings in the report.

Boulder was No. 2 behind Silicon Valley for the highest technology worker concentration. With 30,500 tech workers, nearly a quarter of the Boulder area’s private sector employment is in the industry.

However, Northern Colorado didn’t make the list. It wasn’t even in the running, by definition, according to an AeA researcher. He explained that the group skimmed the top 60 cities for total volume of technology employment in 49 NAICS or Northern American Industry Classification System codes specific to the high-tech industry. All of the cities included in the Cybercities report had more than 17,000 technology workers in 2006 – the most recent data available. The Fort Collins-Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area had 8,200.

I guess it’s OK to miss out on one list. I’m sure we’re still one of the smartest (Forbes magazine, 2007), most innovative (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2005), fastest (Fast Company magazine, 2007) and best places to live (Money magazine, 2006). After all, we couldn’t have gone dumb, outdated, slow and unlivable in a few years, could we?

Kristen Tatti covers technology for the Northern Colorado Business Report. She can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 219 or ktatti@ncbr.com.

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