Great Computer Deals’ latest expansion doubles its size

Starting out as a business at a swap meet, Great Computer Deals has grown to their fifth expansion since the business’ inception.

Owner Josh Osborne explained that the store’s latest expansion came about at the urging of their customers.

“Pahrump is a small town, but there’s a lot of people here looking for what we have to offer,” Osborne said. “We didn’t want to get too big for our britches (at first), but we decided to expand because the need became evident.

“This one by far is our biggest expansion, we’ve nearly doubled in size.”

The extra space allowed the repair center to have a space of its own, and created more room for merchandise to be displayed on the sales floor.

“We wanted to bring in a lot more product, that’s what the limitation was (before the expansion). People were asking for stuff that we didn’t physically have the room for,” Osborne said. “For example gaming computers. People ask for those all the time, but you can’t just have a computer sitting there in a stack, you have to show people what they do.”

The ability to display more gaming computers allows for demonstrations to be conducted for those who need more than just a salesman’s words to make sure their purchase is the right one for them.

Additionally, Great Computer Deals ramped up their video game selection after the expansion, offering more used games and consoles, a service Osborne said is lacking in the area.

With the latest growth of the business, one might suspect prices to increase some. But Osborne explained things are the exact opposite in this case, as prices are, “lower than ever.”

Of all the repairs the shop conducts on a daily basis, one service is completed more often than others.

“The PC tuneup,” Osborne said. “Just like a car needs a tuneup every couple of months or so, a computer needs one every few years.”

The reason behind the tune-up is bloatware, or junkware, usually accompanying other programs one might download, and never notice until the computer starts lagging, Osborne explained.

“Once you’ve accumulated years and years of that stuff you really start to see a dip in your computer’s performance, and it gets very frustrating,” he said. “A lot of folks come in thinking they need a brand new computer… but a lot of the time the computer is just fine, it’s just the software is so bogged down with trash you really need it cleaned through.”

The business started out as an offshoot of his family’s business, that travels around to various conventions and educates attendees on various computer topics. After 25 years of driving around with their mobile unit, they decided to give selling their goods and services in town at a swap meet.

After business at the swap meet grew each month, even after the busy holiday season, Osborne said they saw a more permanent space as the next logical step.

“We really realized something had started when January (2010) started and our sales went up over December sales. That told us this just wasn’t a peak because of the holidays, it was Pahrump basically telling us this town needs a full computer superstore,” he said. “That’s when we decided that swap meet was step one, but now we need to open up a regular store.”

With all the changes taking place with Great Computer Deals, one thing remains the same as it did on day one, Osborne said, customer satisfaction.

“What we try to do is offer a really good computer store, with good service, extremely low prices, with good selection, but do it in a way that helps customers and explains computer technology in a way they can truly understand,” Osborne said.

Great Computer Deals is located on 1190 E. Highway 372, Suite 16 and is open 10 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. They can be reached at 775-990-8833.