New Store to Take Byte out of Computer Market

A new store that will take the bite out of computer problems soon will occupy a shop where people once took bites of out muffins.

Every Last Byte, which will open this September at 1010 North Blvd., right by the end of the CTA Green Line in Forest Park, will provide support through the life cycle of a computer - from sales to repair to recycling, said Adrianne Roach, the shop's owner.

The Oak Park mom, trained as a network engineer, said she will help people love their computers again.

"I'm dedicated to helping people choose computers that bring them the best value, service computers that are driving them crazy and reuse and recycle computers they've outgrown," said Roach, in a news release.

Roach's partner will be joined in this endeavor by her brother Jon Lacey, a network and computer science expert and seasoned retail businessman. 

Formed in 2005, Every Last Byte will be a full-service computer store, providing values in computer sales, consulting and service. The business will specialize in homes and small businesses.

Presently she has run had her business out of a lab in Oak Park and run it by picking up and delivering computers from there.

But with her business growing and with a frustration she and others see as a lack of good high-end computer gear available to the public, she's decided to open the shop.

The frustration, she said, also lies in the fact that with these hard economic times, it is not as easy for a person to buy another computer when their machine acts up.

She said she would fix the machine and provide advice to people who are in the market for a good, well-made computer that would be well-made to start with, high-end quality machines that are hard to find now.

"You get a lot more longevity out of them and many now are not designed to last," she said.

She said computers could also be made and repaired with environmentally-friendly components "without sacrificing reliability and performance," she said. 

The bakery closed in May, in part, because many of its regular customers had flocked to its location in Elmhurst and because owners had been focusing their efforts on creating a new West Town location.

It closed for a time - and then reopened - after a robbery in December, when a man later identified as Travion Trapp, 19, of Chicago, walked into the popular shop and demanded money from the store’s 22-year-old clerk, who was alone at the time.

The victim complied, and the man then ordered the female clerk to the store's basement before leaving. He made off with the employee's cell phone, car keys and cash, totaling more than $3,500, authorities said.

Trapp has been held without bond in the Cook County Jail since he was booked on Dec. 16.