If your cellphone is on the fritz, there will soon be a place to get it fixed in downtown La Grange.
The Village Board gave approval April 11 for a uBreakiFix store in a first floor location at 72 S. La Grange Road.
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The store will provide repair services for mobile phones and other electronics. The board approved the zoning even though an electronic repair shop is not an allowed use in the core retail district.
Trustee David McCarty said the village’s zoning that keeps some types of service or repair businesses out of the downtown business district dates to a time when communities were striving to attract retailers, rather than service providers, to keep downtown shopping districts vibrant.
“It came about in the ’70s to try to force retail into the downtown,” McCarty said.
The business will also sell phone accessories, but some trustees wondered how much sales tax would come from the business.
The applicant, Jeff Schwartz, said a store he operates in Geneva generated $40,000 in sales tax over the past year and another, in Wheaton, brought in about $12,000 during a nine-month period.
He estimated it would take about a year for the business in La Grange to begin to thrive.
“After about a year the word of mouth really catches on,” he said.
Schwartz said his business motto is that they will fix anything with a power button including computers, iPads and even lamps.
Schwartz estimated that the business would average about seven customers an hour.
Trustee Bill Holder said he thinks the business will be an asset in the downtown because it may bring traffic to other businesses.
“With the average repair taking an hour, I’m not going back home,” he said. “I’m working around or going to get something to eat. There’s a lot of cross pollination there.”
Trustee Mark Langan said he’d be willing to give iBreakuFix a try.
“I’m very much in favor of first floor retail but I’d like very much to see how this works out,” he said.
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