Hardly a day goes by that somebody isn’t issuing an urgent appeal to Facebook friends wondering where to get a broken smartphone screen repaired or replaced. The good news for folks in the Southtown neighborhood of St. Joseph and likely far beyond that is additional new help is on the way in the form of the new UBreakiFix shop alongside La Pita Restaurant.
The new repair center is one of five that TCC of Carmel, Indiana is opening regionally. That’s the company that operates the Verizon store in that same shopping center. In fact, the space that UBreakiFix is going into is the former home of Verizon before they moved to the other end of the center, more than tripling their floor space to accommodate customer demand.
It’s the perfect enhancement to Verizon’s operations, since they sell the same products that sometimes end up in need of emergency repairs. The center’s developer, Dave Slavicek tells me they have been working around the clock to get the new business up and running, and they hope to be open as soon as possible, but the exact timeline is not known at the moment.
UBreakiFix is a franchise business launched eight years ago that has ballooned rapidly into a network of 313 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Breaking your smartphone is an accident that we would all like to avoid, but in 2009 when UBreakiFix’s founder, Justin Wetherill dropped his new iPhone 3G — he had just taken the plastic off of it — it was his “aha moment.” As an avid tech geek, Justin figured he could repair his phone by himself, however, after receiving the parts he ordered online, he realized he bit off a little more than he could chew. In fact he admits, “I completely ruined my phone!”
So, Justin partnered up with his college buddy, David Reiff and they realized that there was a need for high quality smartphone repairs. If two tech-savvy dudes had a hard time bringing their phones back to life, how can someone who barely knows how to power-on their device do it? So Justin and David worked like mad scientists tinkering with a bunch of broken iPhones they bought online. They became pretty good at it and they figured they could run a store on eBay offering iPhone glass repairs at a flat-rate of $79.99. Demand began to increase and the mail order business was booming.
With some help from their friend, Eddie Trujillo, the guys opened their first storefront in Orlando, Forida in the summer of 2009. Powered by determination (and ramen noodles), eight short years later, UBreakiFix continues to explode onto the scene. The company has come a long way, but they will tell you that the one thing that will never change is their commitment to providing the best customer service in the tech repair industry.
UBreakiFix is obsessed about gadgets and gizmos. They’re the kind of geeks that are standing in line on launch day waiting for the latest smartphone or gaming console. They’ll be the first to tell you they love all things tech, but don’t want you to confuse their passion for some kind of snobbery. They’re anything but self-described geniuses, but are experts at what they do.
Just as the name implies, UBreakiFix fixes electronic devices. Their corporate website says, “Whether you’re a secret agent who jumped out of a plane and forgot that your iPhone 6 was in your pocket so it took a painful journey to the ground without a parachute, or you just dropped your tablet in the toilet. Don’t worry, we’ve been there ourselves; maybe not the secret agent part, but we understand how traumatic it is when you break your precious devices.” To date they have successfully repaired more than 2.83-million devices for customers nationwide.
There are currently five other UBreakiFix stores in Michigan, with the one in Kentwood outside of Grand Rapids the only other one in West Michigan. The remaining four are in Southeast Michigan. The St. Joe store will be located at 2015 Niles Road in St. Joseph. Stay tuned.
