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BlueRidgeMac plans to expand to a second store, in Harrisonburg
BlueRidgeMac, the Apple computer retailer and service business based in Woodville, is reaching out to a larger market, with plans to open a second store in the college town of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Owner Louise van Dort, who opened the computer outlet in July 2002 in the former Burke’s country store in the village, said the new store in the Shenandoah Valley city will open in May. A “soft” opening is planned for May 5, with a formal, by-invitation Open House scheduled for May 12 in the new location in the Town Center at 182 Neff Avenue in Harrisonburg.
The Woodville store will remain open, van Dort said. The expansion to a second location, in fact, will “make the existing store in Rappahannock a more viable entity,” she told The Rappahannock Voice. “We plan to maintain our presence here in Woodville, though we may curtail our hours somewhat,” to accommodate her need to split her time between the two facilities, she added.
The second store, which will have its own manager, will allow her to grow her business. Harrisonburg, center of a metro area of 115,000 people, is home to James Madison University, with a student body of more than 15,000, that is a ready-made market for computer equipment and services.
“We are hoping that the Harrisonburg location will give us the much-needed additional sales volume that we will never be able to reach here in Rappahannock,” van Dort said. Like many businesses in this small, rural county, Blue Ridge Mac faces the challenge of trying to remain viable despite a very small local customer base. Van Dort has chosen to reach out and expand her business elsewhere, partly in an effort to keep the local business viable.
-- James P. Gannon
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