Win32 Virus Removal

LAKE ZURICH Saturday Nov 19 2011 PC Smart Bar owners Tom Barbera & Frank O'Connor of Barrington sit outside of their new location inside of the Lake Zurich Dominick's. PC Smart Bar offers several services related to phone and computer repair such as replacing broken smart phone screens to new computer setup and virus removal, to recovering family photos from crashed memory devices.| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 21, 2011 4:07PM

Dominick’s shoppers looking for turkey and canned cranberry last weekend found a new, technologically advanced addition inside the Lake Zurich grocery store.

PC Smart Bar — a one-stop, full-service personal computer support desk — launched its second location with a grand opening event Saturday and Sunday. Barrington cofounders Tom Barbera and Frank O’Connor were on hand offering free PC speed-ups and diagnostic check-ups for the first 100 shoppers. They also provided guests an opportunity to win a free Google Chromebook.

Barbera and O’Connor said customer satisfaction, consistent referrals and a thirst for continuous improvement were the founding principles when they opened their first PC Smart Bar one year ago in the Deer Park Town Center, 20330 N. Deer Park Blvd.

Those ideals led to the new “store within a store” concept, they explained.

“We thought the idea of a service counter located inside neighborhood retail with a typical customer that visits that location multiple times a week would be a convenient way to reach the consumer,” Barbera said.

Barbera’s search for troubleshooting services originated in September of last year when a search revealed few options for a PC version of Apple Stores’ Genius Bar technical support desk.

It took the duo only a few months to begin saturating the PC support market using O’Connor’s technical abilities and Barbera’s real estate investment experience.   

“I’m the geek in the family,” said O’Connor, who boasts a technologically-inclined nature and extensive experience as a chief information officer for a major retailer.

O’Connor’s strengths coupled with his friend’s business venture background brought PC Smart Bar to life.

The in-store, convenient set-up was devised as a way to differentiate themselves from their competition. The troubleshooting squads from larger local companies are saddled with lengthy waits and surprise prices, the PC Smart Bar founders explained. The grocery store was chosen because it’s a less-intimidating route for the technologically-impaired world, they added.

The Dominick’s location also offers the same consumer-adaptable services demonstrated by its established Deer Park counterpart.

“It’s (more difficult) to get someone to walk into a store than it is for somebody already in a store to stop by a service counter,” Barbera said.

The Dominick’s installation features a service model that promotes minimal daily interference with the typically fast-paced consumer’s schedule.

For instance, PC Smart Bar’s technicians can take a computer with monitor issues, diagnose the issue, order a $150 screen replacement and allow the customer the option to take the faulty computer home to work on until the new screen arrives in a few days.

“That’s a much better model because you can decide right away if the repair is worth making,” Barbera said. “If it is, you can still use it while we wait for the part to come in, we fix it and away you go. There are no surprises, no cloak and dagger and you are not without the computer for all that time.”

Several five-star ratings and their accompanying comments have been posted on yelp.com. Barbera added that the consumer-rating responses prove the speed and convenience of PC Smart Bar.

Some of the Dominick’s shoppers to stop by the help desk on Saturday were already looking forward to their future trips to the grocery store.

Dick Kingdon of Palatine was pleasantly surprised by the new stop available to Dominick’s shoppers.

“Next time we come by, we’ll be happy to have them look at our Galaxy Pad,” said Kingdon, adding that he’d like to learn how to sync his device up to his computer.

The Lake Zurich Fire Department’s Joe Christopherson and Phil Rotstein also stopped by the new PC support center after grocery shopping for the station. Both checked out the new addition and learn about its services.

Barbera and O’Connor plan to open about 30 more locations in the Chicago area within the next 18 to 24 months. They already have signed letters of intent to open a PC Smart Bar by mid-January in downtown Chicago and another desk inside a Dominick’s in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood by Dec. 15.

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