Mythlogic, the computer service and support company, has opened a retail storefront on 209 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor.

Josh Tacey, co-owner of Mythlogic, mans the new store on Main Street most days from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday and weekends 12-6 p.m. “We wanted to be in downtown Ann Arbor but didn’t necessarily have a great need to be on south Main in ‘Restaurant Row’ as we call it. We knew a lot of our target business audience is on this side of Main. It is a beautiful space for a good price so we took it.”

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Specializing in custom gaming machines, the company got its start servicing gaming centers when it was launched in 2004 by co-owners Jeff Cline and Charlie Brown. Since then fellow gamer and computer engineer Josh Tacey joined the team and they branched out into servicing small local businesses with ongoing technical support.

“The business to business side worked out to where we could afford retail space, so we decided to jump in and open up a shop,” said Tacey, who mans the store most days from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday and weekends 12-6 p.m.

“We wanted to be in downtown Ann Arbor but didn’t necessarily have a great need to be on south Main in ‘Restaurant Row’ as we call it. We knew a lot of our target business audience is on this side of Main. It is a beautiful space for a good price so we took it.”

The 1,800-square-foot space allows them to carry mainstream computer products for the broader community including laptops, desktops, parts, cables, laptop bags and upgrades as well as attract more foot traffic from people downtown.

“If someone is having a problem with their laptop, they can come here instead of a big box retailer where they have to wait for two weeks while it gets sent out,” says Tacey. “We can get it solved faster and often cheaper.”

Just open since Art Fair, the team hopes to grow as “40,000 new eyeballs come to town,” Tacey said.

“College students will have a use for us obviously as they have a need to get things fixed or pick up a certain part. We are really pushing laptops right now for that crowd. In addition, a lot of college kids are gamers who stay in their dorms and play games and we are able to provide the parts they want same day instead of having to order online and wait until it comes in.”

Meanwhile, Mythlogic will continue to expand its gaming business nationally to add to its roster of 12 game center clients including Digital Ops, Eastern Michigan University and UCLA.

“Gaming centers are an emerging trend at universities,” says Tacey. “Student unions traditionally have had an arcade or billiard room to keep kids on campus and make a little money at the same time. But those aren’t working as well these days as kids see them as ‘old-fashioned.’ More schools are replacing them with newer entertainment such as gaming centers and media rooms.”

Organizations turn to companies like Mythlogic to run their game center. “You can’t just get a bunch of Xboxes and Dells and open a gaming center. It is significant from a computer standpoint, just like running a business. These computers have to work day in and day out, and if it doesn’t work, you’re not making money on it. We have on-the-ground knowledge of what works and can tailor our computers and equipment to that while still being economical. “