IDE@S Computers adds new Pipestone location

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — IDE@S Computers CEO Jason Kruger had been looking for a new location to expand.

He found the right fit in Pipestone.

“It’s been on my mind for a couple years now,” Kruger said. “I’d actually take off on Friday afternoons and drive through Spirit Lake, and I’ve been down to Orange City, just looking at where there are some good market opportunities. That has to be something that benefits both A&B and us.”

Teaming with A&B Business, IDE@S Computers recently opened a store in Pipestone, which is very similar to the one in Worthington.

“We offer the same services we have in Worthington,” said John Cowan, who oversees the Pipestone office. “We have in-house support. If someone has their home PC they want to have service done as far as upgrades or problems with the PC as far as virus removal or anything like that, we have a technician who is fully trained to handle any of those problems. We also offer business support for any of the businesses in the community.”

So far, the community has been supportive of the new store.

“There were a couple things we were looking at. One, it’s a good expansion for us and a good direction for us to expand to,” Cowan said. “It’s an area we do a little bit of work in. We’ve looked at adding to that area. We have some clients up there and a lot of possibilities. Then working with A&B as far as teaming up, the opportunity came up. It kind of gave us the chance to expand that direction.

“Anytime you open a new location, it takes time for the community to accept and to really get comfortable. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback. It’s been a very good feeling as far as what we have.”

A&B Business, which is partnered with IDE@S in the Worthington location as well, mainly deals with copiers, printers and office supplies — a natural fit for a computer store.

“It was a good business opportunity that made financial sense. We can have two businesses in one location with A&B,” Kruger said.

“You get a perfect opportunity like that, and we’re hoping this is only the first of many. It was a perfect business opportunity that we couldn’t pass up. They wanted to open up a store up there, we wanted to open up a store.

“We can take better care of our customers, no matter what they need.”

The original plan was to have the new store ready early in the year. Instead, it took until April to have the grand opening.

“We drug our feet,” Kruger said. “We were originally going to have this done by the first of the year. Christmas is always busy, and we didn’t get it done until April. It’s trying to hire people and trying to manage something that’s an hour away.”

The store is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and offers free computer assessments to customers.

“The nice part is, with our location here, we have 10 years, 11 years experience within IDE@S itself,” Cowan said. “We have many more years experience within all our employees. We have a good backing, so it’s nice thing as far as going up into Pipestone and being able to offer a very wide range of experience.”

Daily Globe Community Content Coordinator Aaron Hagen may be reached at 376-7323.

Tags: news, business, pipestone