GREENFIELD — A local electronics repair shop that rebranded at the beginning of the year has moved into a new space downtown, albeit a little sooner than anticipated.
Rubber Duck Tech Repair owner Daniel Adams and his wife, Sarah Rooney, both 37, told customers they would know the business had moved to Main Street from its 99 Elm St. location when the large novelty rubber duck pool toy positioned outside was no longer there. It was between 2 and 3 p.m. last Friday that Adams noticed the inflatable waterfowl had disappeared.
“And we said, ‘OK, well, we’ve been telling people if the duck is gone it means we’ve moved, so we’ve got to be open by Monday,’” Adams recalled with a laugh.
“They stole it, popped it, threw it in our neighbor’s pool. We know our neighbor didn’t do it,” Rooney said of the pool toy. “So we’re just having a good laugh, thinking that it went and took a swim.”
Rubber Duck Tech Repair, formerly SFE Tech, is now located in Suite 23 at Mohawk Mall, 91 Main St. The new location, home to a AAA Northeast branch until late April, allows for more visibility and a better community presence.
“It’s large enough that we’re comfortable and we have room to grow into,” Adams explained.
Adams, a U.S. Army veteran with extensive retail experience, opened SFE Tech inside Adams Direct Mail Services, which his parents own at 99 Elm St., in 2022. However, he quickly learned his business needed a name change.
“That was just a name to get opened with,” he said. “January [of] this year, we rebranded to Rubber Duck Tech Repair. No one could remember the [former] name.”
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Adams explained rubberducking is a method of software troubleshooting in which a programmer debugs a device by detailing, or at least pretending to detail, the issue at hand in simple terms to a rubber duck.
“And it occurred to me, ‘I do this regularly,’ and rubber ducks are recognizable everywhere, and I don’t want a name that someone else has,” Adams said. “As far as I can tell, we’re the only Rubber Duck Tech Repair globally, so it’s a unique name that’s memorable.”
He specializes in computers, smartphones and tablets, but said “we’ll gladly have a look at just about anything.” He also has a soldering station and can handle game console repairs. The shop has a five-member crew as well as an intern from Franklin County Technical School, where Rooney and Adams met.
The added visibility seems to be paying off already, as Rooney said half the customers who came to Rubber Duck Tech Repair on July 22 were new. Rooney had been walking down Main Street one day when she saw the space that had been occupied by AAA Northeast was vacant and available, inspiring talks of pursuing a new location.
Mark Schieldrop, a senior spokesperson for AAA Northeast, said in an email to the Greenfield Recorder that the decision was made to close the Greenfield branch due to low foot traffic and the proximity of a Registry of Motor Vehicles location about 1 mile away. The nearest AAA location to Greenfield is now in Hadley, at 458 Russell St.
“AAA Northeast has been honored to serve the Greenfield community for many years,” he said. “We continually evaluate the needs of our members, and if the opportunity arises for a new branch location in this area in the future, we’ll consider it.”
Despite the loss of the rubber duck pool toy at the electronics repair shop’s old location on Elm Street, the business is prepared with a replacement for its new home.
“We’ve got his brother in and we’re going to inflate him,” Adams said. “He’s going to be an indoor duck.”
Rubber Duck Tech Repair can be reached at 413-200-0003. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit rubberducktech.repair for more information.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.
