SAN ANTONIO – Computer stores have seen a surge in demand for desktops, laptops, and web cameras brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Steve Flannery, owner of Steve’s Computer Repair, said his business has seen a mixture of both people looking to buy new computers or fix up their old ones to make them faster.
“I would say about 10% to 20% more people are coming to the shop. That’s a lot to do with people being at home and just breaking their computers that they’re on,” he said. In the last week it was a lot of families looking to refurbish their old computers for the kids going back to school, he explains.
“A lot of people bring in their old computers and we’ve been doing a lot of solid state upgrades to their old computer and it makes their computer run a lot faster,” Flannery said.
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Angelika Kluna, with the Goodwill Electronics Store at Eisenhauer Rd near I-35, says families with multiple children are looking for good deals because they have to have multiple children use devices for online learning.
“Our demand for our refurbished computers is 91% greater than it was last year at this time,” Kluna said.
The store depends on donations from companies and people to keep up with the demand. The staff also spends a lot of time helping parents figure out what other technology they will need for their students.
Due to social distancing restrictions, customer capacity is limited in the store.
Call 210-271-8806 to learn more about what inventory is available. Companies interested in donating electronics should email computers@goodwillsa.org.