Tom Dempsey and Vicki Chavez of Boulder Creek met online two years ago.
Naturally, the couple that met on MySpace would own Coastal Computers, a Boulder Creek business that sells and repairs computers.
“It’s very much a 21st-century romance,” Chavez joked.
Coastal Computers opened its storefront in mid-March and has seen about 13 customers a week, Dempsey said.
The company deals mostly with PCs, but Dempsey is in the process of getting Mac-certified.
Before setting up shop on Highway 9, Dempsey offered his services from home, advertising on Craigslist.
“We were doing mobile services and then said, ‘Let’s just open up an actual shop,’” he said.
Adding a bricks-and-mortar angle isn’t the end of his house calls, though. Dempsey said he will still go to a home or business to repair a computer on the spot.
Most of his clients turn to Coastal Computers to deal with viruses and broken screens, he said.
“People drop them a lot,” Dempsey said. “One guy punched his screen after he read an e-mail from his mother.”
The most common virus Dempsey sees is one that sets off fake alerts.
“It basically causes pop-ups that tell you your computer is infected and to fix it you need to give your credit card number,” he said. “It also causes porn pop-ups.”
Dempsey’s background in computer repair had its origins in the 1990s, when he worked for Panasonic.
“It kind of forced me to learn the ins and outs of computers and networking,” he said. “Basically, I’ve been the guy to set up and fix computers for people for the last 15 years.”
While he does the repair work, Chavez handles the books and scours the Internet for laptops Dempsey can fix up and resell.
“Business has been good so far,” Chavez said. “We haven’t had many problems with the economy.”
Chavez said they sell refurbished laptops for about $200.
“We are trying to target low-income families, because a lot of times, they can’t afford computers,” she said. “We want to try and make it reasonable for them.”
Dempsey said he’s happy to work where he lives.
“I grew up in the valley, and I’ve worked over the hill most of my life,” he said. “It’s nice to be home, to be able to help people here.”
At a glance
WHAT: Coastal Computers
HOURS: 9 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (closes at 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays) and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays
WHERE: 13200 Highway 9, Ste. 9,
in Boulder Creek
INFO: 706-4632 or www.santacruzpc.net
