Take the fear out of buying new phones and devices at ReTech-it

One of many ways that ReTech-it promises to help customers is to allay fears that people have – particularly from older generations – about purchasing new phones and electronic devices.

The family-run locally-owned electronics business, based at Sean Costello Street, Athlone, has been a huge success as it approaches six years in operation. And now, the store - run by Athlone couple Pearse and Joanne Hegarty – is reaching out to the public to highlight its great focus on taking the stress out of buying new phones. “We take the fear out of buying a new phone. We set up their new devices and transfer all the data and apps when a phone is bought from us,” said Pearse, who, like his wife, comes from a long line of local and trusted entrepreneurs.

“With the older generation, this is something that causes them to not buy a new phone or tablet and struggle on with half-working devices. We usually have the new phone in the people’s hands when they walk out the door. We do the same with laptops and don’t charge extra for transfers of data. We usually get the person in and they come back after an hour with everything ready. We also don’t charge extra for this when they buy from us.” Pearse added.

Business is second nature to the Hegartys, who come from a long line of local entrepreneurs, including Joanne’s father Martin Flynn, who has been running M&J Flynn Tarmacadam for almost 40 years. Pearse’s father was a popular plumber, and his late grandfather Paddy Hegarty a well-known shoemaker of bygone years. “It really does run in our blood,” Pearse said, sharing the imprint their families have left on the local business landscape. Pearse and Joanne have added to the legacy with their family-run electronics business.

The Athlone store sells a range of phones, tablets, laptops, and printers, as well as offering accessories and services for all electronics. “We’re very lucky to say that we were pretty much a success from the first day, and it has only grown from there. We’ve managed to keep growing, and we have a huge number of return customers.” Pearse said, adding that online sales have also grown rapidly for retechit.ie.

When asked what makes them stand-out from the crowd, Pearse noted the importance of local, family-run, Irish owned businesses. “People are familiar with our family, and they want to support local business,” Pearse said. “We’ve built up a considerable customer base since opening. Customer care is a huge thing for us, and we always go the extra mile setting up devices so they’re ready to go when the customer is leaving the shop, which you just don’t get in other high-street retailers.”

When Pearse’s wife Joanne joined the business as the operations manager, she said: “I came onboard to take a bit of stress off Pearse. I check the stock, entering stock into the system, and label barcodes – that kind of thing.”

Customers are at the heart of what they do at ReTech-it Athlone, and both Pearse and Joanne would like to thank their customer base for their support over the last five years.

“We can’t thank our customers enough,” Pearse said. “It’s because of them that we continue to grow, and we really want people to know that we are here to make their purchases and the process of switching devices completely stress-free.”

People can see ReTech-it Athlone’s full stock list from its website retechit.ie, or they can pop into the store in Athlone across from Dunnes Stores, Irishtown.