CPR for the phone …
Local business owners open 3rd store
Ryan Cook’s father and grandfather were both business owners, so when the opportunity to start his own company came about, he took the plunge.
Earlier this year, Cook opened his third location of CPR Cell Phone Repair with a new store on Chattanooga’s North Shore. He’s in the process of trying to buy another in East Brainerd.
“We provide good customer service and … we’re doing it in my hometown,” he said about the business that also repairs tablets and computers.
Cook opened his first store in Fort Oglethorpe in May 2015, joining a franchise system that he said is the largest in the world for mobile device repair with more than 300 locations.
His second store debuted in Cartersville, Ga., outside Atlanta, in 2016, and earlier this year the third site opened its doors off North Market Street near the Publix supermarket.
“It has great sourcing of parts, high quality parts, at a good price,” the 32-year-old Cook said, adding CPR has a national warranty program. In addition, its technicians are ISO certified, he said.
Cook, born and raised in Fort Oglethorpe, said his initial store had the best first month for any one of
“CPR is the largest repair franchise in the world. We have a full time tech, Caleb Burris, and we repair phones, tablets and computers with buy, sell and trade options.”
– RYAN COOK
CPR’s franchises.
“It’s been one of the top 10 percent stores since it opened,” he said, adding that it takes between a $100,000 and $200,000 initial investment for a store.
Cook’s wife and business partner, Kalyn, said the new Chattanooga store has taken off since it opened.
“The downtown community has been open armed,” she said.
Kalyn Cook, who said her father also is an entrepreneur and business owner, noted that the store is seeing a lot of business professionals who use their phones and tablets for work.
“A lot of attorneys are coming in,” she said.
Also, the business owner said private schools in the area that have tablets for their students are using the store for repairs.
Ryan Cook, who holds a marketing degree from the University of Georgia, said that 93 percent of people have cell phones today and 85 percent of those are smart phones.
He said their business can fix 95 percent of the issues with a phone, tablet or computer, saving people a lot of money versus paying insurance deductibles or replacing their devices.
The new store did more than 100 repairs the first three weeks it opened, Cook said. Also, the store does water recovery, boasting more than an 85 percent save rate along with password removal, he said.
In addition, the store buys, sells and trades, offering CPR-certified used devices for 30 percent to 70 percent cheaper than purchasing new, Cook said. He said the store is offering school teachers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and students regular discounts.
Kalyn Cook said she likes the North Shore site because it has 12 parking spaces, four of which are dedicated for the business.
“That area off North Market is up and coming,” she said. “We were nervous that it wasn’t close enough to the business district, but we’re far enough that we have a parking lot. That’s a big issue.”