Alaska Used Computer Source.

• Position: Expansion of services - Company Profile

In a dog-eat-dog world where discount and department stores sell everything from peanut butter to building supplies, Alaska Used Computer Source -- by dealing only in computers -- meets its competition while carving a unique market niche.

"We're on the few, and maybe the only store in Alaska, taking trade-ins," says Harry Davidson, owner and founder of the no-frills, mid-town Anchorage store. The business is two-and-a-half years old and growing.

It's grown beyond the definition of its name and, even though Davidson has no plans to rename his store, he explains that the business boasts three distinct arms.

Foremost is the used computer business, selling complete used computer systems, printers and peripherals. The idea came to Davidson a few years ago when he realized there was a huge surplus of very good used equipment just being warehoused.

"Businesses, such as oil companies, Native corporations and attorneys, were upgrading, and the old was being left behind," he says. "I heard of a store in Sacramento, Calif., selling used merchandise, and I visited it to see how it worked."

When Davidson returned to Alaska, a major Anchorage business was being liquidated, and all of its computer equipment was sold at auction. Much of it became the store's first inventory. Today, the lion's share of equipment available at the Alaska Used Computer Source is there because individuals and companies want, or need, to upgrade. All merchandise is Apple/Macintosh, IBM/IBM compatible or other micro-computers that can be reconfigured to be IBM compatible.

According to Davidson, a good basic used IBM-compatible XT class machine with a 20-megabyte hard drive equipped with monitor and keyboard runs around $400. An AT class computer would be in the $550 range, while a "386" would begin at about $850.

But selling used merchandise isn't the whole story. The second arm of the business encompasses a complete computer service center that repairs and upgrades equipment. "You may not need a new computer if you're dissatisfied with what you have," Davidson says. "We offer free appraisals for an existing system to see if it's cost effective to upgrade. Many inexpensive models sold in department stores can't be upgraded, so before buying, it pays to think about whether there's a chance of outgrowing that inexpensive model.

"We have customers all over the state and have shipped computers to eastern Russia. Customers can be confident in the technical and telephone support we...