Store gives Apples a second life
Daniel Sandoval taught himself how to play chess on an Apple computer and has since learned the technology behind what Apple devices are capable of doing — and he’s a believer.
In past years, he took that passion and operated a mobile computer repair business. Sandoval also ran the computers for members of the New Mexico House of Representatives.
Now the Santa Fe native, 31, who graduated from Capital High, has opened a store that specializes in the repair, refurbishing and resale of Apple products, called Apple Core, at 537-B W. Cordova Road in the CVS shopping center.
Sandoval is not an official Apple distributor, nor is he affiliated with the private company. He does not sell retail products, so don’t bother coming to his store when the newest devices are rolled out and released to the public.
But he does offer desktop computers, iPhones, iPads and laptops that have been refurbished, updated and serviced. His goal is to take a product with a long lifespan that can be too expensive for many families to purchase new and make them more accessible with a secondary market.
“I’ve been working on Apple computers for over 10 years, every make and model,” Sandoval said. “I see a computer as a much-needed resource.”
Sandoval said he can customize older computers or laptops and install the specialized software for photo editing or music that a consumer wants. He already has about 25 products available for sale and hopes to build that inventory.
He also can upgrade phones, iPads and other devices brought into the store, and has many senior citizens who need help trying to configure or use new applications. “I’m a former network engineer, so we can design something or point people in the right direction,” Sandoval said.
The Apple Core is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours are noon to 3 p.m., and the store is closed Wednesdays for now.
I am among those who have written a lot about the disparity in the national unemployment, now at 4.4 percent, with the New Mexico rate of 6.7 percent, the highest and worst rate of all 50 states.
Within the state there are wide disparities in employment levels. The most stable economy is Los Alamos County, which has an unemployment rate of just 3.6 percent because job levels at the federally managed weapons and research laboratory are now increasing — and those without work tend to leave the community.
The highest rate in the state is Luna County with 17.3 percent unemployment, about four times the national average. The county has a heavy reliance on temporary agricultural workers and the service industry. It often sees large spikes in unemployment, with the rate climbing to 25 percent in April 2010.
But even with the disparities, there are just three counties in New Mexico where the unemployment rate is at or below the national average — Los Alamos, Union County with a rate of 3.7 percent and DeBaca County at 4.3 percent.
And these places are small — with a combined labor force for all three counties of about 11,000 workers out of 932,000 statewide. The large metro areas are faring quite a bit worse, with unemployment in the Farmington and Las Cruces areas above 7 percent and Albuquerque at 5.6 percent. Even Santa Fe County, where unemployment is a modest 5 percent, is above the national average.
Though the unemployment rate is just one measure of the economy, it is a highly public one. And the message it is sending from New Mexico is that those looking for better wages and more opportunity should pack up and move elsewhere, like Colorado, where the state’s 2.3 percent unemployment rate is lowest in the United States.