PC Friend, a new retailer of computer accessories and supplies, will make its debut next month, bringing more competition for established rivals such as PC World.
The first PC Friend will open in Wakefield and is intended as the first of a chain. Another five outlets are planned in Yorkshire, representing an investment of more than£1.5 million. Nationwide expansion is then planned and the objective is up to 30 shops within a year.
PC Friend will not sell computers, but will compete with existing retailers by helping consumers use their computers, as well as selling accessories, according to managing director Martin Carter.
'People out there are drowning. Everyone is focusing on product, not service, but selling them more memory or a new computer isn't the way forward,' he said.
The retailer will experiment by varying store location types and product offerings. It will then roll out stores starting in the North Midlands, North West and North East.
It will also sell online and operate a helpline, helping to establish the name nationally.
Carter would not disclose the name of PC Friend's parent company, but said it was 'in computer peripheral manufacturing'.
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