DAVE'S COMPUTER WORLD, INC.

Dave's, located in Brookston, 13 miles north of Lafayette, was the outgrowth of a hobby interest by the owner, Dave Alm. "It's a hobby that went wild," says Dave of his business. "I feel pretty lucky that I can actually make money helping people work with stuff I really enjoy."

One of the things that sets Dave's apart from most other computer shops is the people. "People are so important to how good a business is. We are very lucky to have such a great group of people. And," Alm exclaims, "our technical people all know which end of the soldering iron to grab a hold of!"

The operation currently has a full-time staff of five, and seven part-time and outside sales people.

Dave's custom-build computers from scratch adding whatever features the customer wants and needs. Price can range from hundreds of dollars to thousands, depending on what is needed. The computer may be for home use, business, bio-medical research, to aid in construction estimating, to control a process in a factory, type letters in an office, or any of thousands of other uses. The process is the same -- they help you decide what you will need to do the job and then help you find the best ways of doing it.

A specialty at Dave's is computer networks. A network is when you hook two or more computers together so they can share information and other resources, such as printers. Dave's is an Authorized Novell Dealer. Novell is the largest manufacturer of network software in the world. We also do Microsoft Windows networking. Networks installed and maintained for various clients by Dave's range from two computers to over two hundred computers!

Another specialty is education. (Both of Dave's parents and his wife are educators.) "Schools always have limited funds and have one of the greatest needs for more computing power. We do what we can to help schools get the most in equipment and software for their dollar," says Dave.

In the late summer of 1994, Dave's became an Internet Provider, dedicated to making the internet available to the public affordably and in an understandable format. Today DCWI has over 750 subscribers, and continues to grow and a surprisingly accellerating rate. Using 56K modems and ADSL connections we help businesses, school, libraries, social service organizations get "wired" with a high-quality connection. Are you wired up to the Internet yet?

"Our people make a special effort to tune-in and talk to you at your level of understanding. You won't have one of our folks talking techno-babble to try and impress you, or talking down to you, or rambling on and on to hear themselves talk."

The store has been in existence about twenty two years, and has had the same staff and been under the same ownership for longer than any other store in Tippecanoe, White, and surrounding counties. "We're in this for the long haul. Business is built on relationships - on being here today and tomorrow," Alm explains.

The original store occupied a space six feet by ten feet in a corner of what is now the Brookston store. It had one Commodore computer, a tape drive and a small black and white tv for a monitor. If you actually wanted to buy anything, it had to be ordered. Dave's has now grown to over 3,500 square feet of sales floor, offices, shipping & receiving, and service area.

Many customers to Dave's have said that it has the best assortment of software, hardware, and computing goodies they have ever seen. Software abounds, from the very latest releases of commercial software for business and productivity, to education and recreation. Dave's carries software and hardware for the IBM and IBM compatibles, as well as the Macintosh.

Old customers always feel right at home at Dave's, and the new visitor will be delighted. The shelves are crammed with all sorts of computer paraphenelia. A person can spend hours just browsing, come back the next week and discover things they didn't see before.

Dave's Computer World is a full-service store, offering all of the goods and services of the original. Customers from all walks, including: businesses, professionals, educators, manufacturing, researchers, as well as the home user will find everything they need. The store offers discount hardware, software, supplies, service and support. Their reputation for good service is well deserved, as evidenced by the fact that over 85% of all of the repairs they take in are on computers, printers, and monitors that were purchased from other vendors.

FACTOID: You might be interested to know that the Official Snack Foods of Dave's are Coca Cola and Brach's red licorice, some of the best "brain foods" known to modern science.