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Gadget repair a growing market in Peoria area [Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.](Journal Star (Peoria, IL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 18--In a world where gadgets -- smartphones, tablets, phablets -- have taken over, it's not surprising that gadget repair is a growing concern. Normal Gadgets just opened at the Metro Centre. It's the second store for Terry and Angie Ballantini, the husband-and-wife team who opened their first gadget repair shop in Bloomington two years ago. Meanwhile, Larry Mikell is fixing smartphones, tablets and laptops at a store now called Fix My Gadget that opened in June of 2013 at 809 E. War Memorial Drive in Peoria Heights. "The unrelenting commitment to customer satisfaction shown by Fix My Gadget has directly resulted in its current period of rapid growth," said Mikell, a Bradley University graduate who once worked for the Sprint-Nextel cellphone outlet in town. "I would do repair work for construction workers when they broke their phones. I started this (repair) business on my kitchen table," he said. The proprietors of Normal Gadgets also had a start-up story. "In the summer of 2012, we were looking for a career change. My wife and I both love technology and gadgets. We saw the opportunity to service devices as being a big niche market," said Terry Ballantini. "We were going to go the franchise route -- but with my sales background and my wife's business experience (Angie Ballantini served as treasurer for the Bloomington-Normal transit system for 12 years) -- it made more sense to do it ourselves," he said. The couple plans to use the same approach in Peoria as they employed in their Bloomington store. "Phone work is 80 percent of what we do," said Terry Ballantini, who previously served as sales director at Heart Technologies in East Peoria. What opened the door for repair shops was the change made by cell phone operators, shifting the standard deductible on insurance policies from $35 to $150, said Mikell. "That provided an opportunity for us to make repairs," he said. Mikell plans to open a store just across the parking lot from Normal Gadgets in December. "Our new location will be in the Schnuck's supermarket lot, next to Peoria Community Bank," he said. Nearby at Metro Centre, the Ballantinis are proud of the experienced technicians that work for them but also are looking to get more young people involved in gadget repair. "We're involved with a pilot program with School District 87 involving Bloomington High School," said Angie Ballantini. "We met with the district's director of technology, who asked if we were open to teach high school kids how to repair computers," she said. - "On Wednesday, we'll have 15 to 20 high schoolers at our Bloomington store spending the day. We'll show them how repairs are made," said Angie Ballantini, noting that students then come up one or two days a week as a follow-up. The couple would like to forge a similar relationship with District 150 in Peoria as well as encouraging more women to consider getting involved with gadgets, she said. Terry Ballantini added that Normal Gadgets works with 12 school systems around the state, doing repairs on school gadgets. Although they just opened in Peoria, Normal Gadgets had already done repair work for people in this area with one job being particularly memorable, he said. "Somebody found a mangled tablet when they were clearing up after the Washington tornado last year. They notified us, and we fixed it at no charge. We sent it to the cellphone carrier who got it back to the owner," he said. ___ Normal Gadgets Location: Metro Centre Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; closed Sunday Website: www.normalgadgets.com Telephone: 807-3333 Suggestion: "Make sure you back up your device so you don't lose photos or information." ___ Fix My Gadget Location: 809 E. War Memorial Drive, Peoria Heights Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday; by appointment on Sundays. Website: www.peoriacellphonerepair.com Telephone: 693-6100 Motto: "If we can find the part, we can fix it." ___ Steve Tarter can be reached at 686-3260 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter ___ (c)2014 the Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.) Visit the Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.) at www.PJStar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |