Photography by Stephen Elledge

Loyal lovers of Apple products and their iconic retail stores experience some pleasant surprises when they walk through the doors of downtown Austin’s CompuZone.

Sure, there’s a familiar, mostly white, minimalist showroom space stocked with computers and other media products. But there’s also someone waiting to greet you right away. No appointments – only service policies – and no excessively pierced teen employees trying to hustle customers in and out like a revolving door.

“The people who come in, they like that they don’t need an appointment like at the Apple Store, and that we remember them when they come back,” said Prasad Attaluri, manager of the year-old West 5th Street store, which is locally owned by his family. “They come back, and they know me, even if my name is a little tough for them at first. But they remember how we work for them.”

That means Attaluri or any of the store’s salespeople or service technicians will routinely spend more than an hour with a customer working on either a purchase of a new product or figuring out the most effective and affordable way to finish a repair on a customer’s coffee-soaked MacBook or an iPhone that went screen-first onto concrete.

Applying a family touch to a global brand like Apple is what’s helped CompuZone succeed in its new location after 16 years in a North Austin office park, where it had a dedicated clientele made of small business owners, doctors and other professionals, but lacked foot traffic and high visibility.

The 2,500-square-foot space in a first-floor retail block across the street from the Whole Foods headquarters has made the business a presence in Austin’s downtown, where nearly 10,000 people currently reside, and where a constant bustle of cranes erecting condominium projects and other high-rises promises more potential customers by the day.

“From the aspect of getting Apple products out there, this was smart because downtown was starving for an Apple retail source,” said Raj Babu, an Austin physician who helps run the store’s business operations with his mother, Ratna Babu. “Lots of downtown folks don’t like to go to a mall and prefer having something close by that takes care of their needs.

“A lot of our business is foot traffic from people coming in for the first time who had no idea there was a store like this downtown. It’s amazing to see their reactions when they find out that there’s a locally owned Apple Store where they can go and get the same great products, but also have a warm, personalized experience.

“Where we were before was nice and quiet, but this is different, and has opened us up to a huge new demographic of people and a ton of businesses around us. There are lots of people who are glad about not having to drive to the mall or not having to order an Apple device or accessory through the mail.”

Another point of pride for Babu and the store is the store’s standing as one of only eight certified Apple specialists in all of Texas. That designation – which comes from selling high volumes of Apple products and meeting demanding requirements for service and repair work – means the store can provide Apple warranty services and complete Apple-certified repairs, as well as stay within a customer’s budget.

So that coffee-soaked laptop keyboard from earlier? Take it into an Apple Store, and you’re looking at an automatic fee of more than $700 to replace roughly $100 worth of parts because of blanket policies on damages from liquids.

At CompuZone, the store’s technicians have the ability to diagnose specific fixes that can save hundreds of dollars and be just as effective as a complete system overhaul.

“We can work around budgets to get the job done,” Babu said. “All repairs are performed using Apple authorized parts. If the device is older or out-of-warranty, and the customer is really limited financially, we can search for other options and still get the job done to their satisfaction. The bottom line is that we will find a solution that makes them happy.”

While the better location has brought more awareness to what the store has to offer, Babu said its designation as an Apple “reseller” has caused some confusion with visitors who think the term suggests it sells refurbished and secondhand goods.

In truth, it means CompuZone is an approved vendor of new Apple merchandise that obtains products either directly from Apple or from a large wholesale distributor and sells at the same price points as Apple does directly.

“Lots of people come in and think that ‘reseller’ means refurbished, but we sell the exact same product that’s found at the Apple Store,” Babu said.

With year-over business more than doubling in the new location and more corporate clients coming on board as regular customers, Babu and his family hope CompuZone can make a big footprint in a creative economy-driven city that embraces Apple products while also serving as the home of PC giant, Dell.

While CompuZone is primed to spread the word about Apple, there are other areas the business would like to focus on, as well. The organization has made a strong social commitment and seeks to get involved with groups and causes that are important to the community.

Its relationship with the Capital Area Food Bank began shortly after its inception and remains strong to this day. The business also takes pride in sponsoring various causes with a local connection such as the Austin Gorilla Run, which it expects to sponsor again this year.

It’ll be even more visibility and opportunity for the business as it looks to grow with the city that’s become the place to be for those who are looking to turn their creative talents into a paycheck or a business of their own.

“When we first opened 17 years ago, we sold everything, including PCs, but over time, Apple has become the dominant product for us in everything that we do,” Babu said. “It got to a point where we said, ‘Hey, Apple needs to be our focus, and has just got to be what we specialize in.’

“Austin is just a city that ‘gets’ Apple more than almost any other place, and we’re here because we want to be a part of providing that to people close to where they are.”

For more information, call 512-419-7071, or visit www.compuzonedirect.com.