Meet Aung-Kaung Myat. Aung is originally from Burma, but has lived in Buffalo for five years. I ran into the young entrepreneur this afternoon while grabbing a coffee at Sweet_ness 7 on Grant Street. Aung was going over the final details of a lease that he and building owner Prish Moran has drafted, which would provide him with a business location at 212 Grant Street. “You’re going to love his idea,” Prish told me. “He will be opening an Information Technology (IT) business servicing computers and cell phones.”
After talking with Aung for a while, I warmed up to his concept more and more. “I worked at an IT company in Thailand,” he explained. “Although I’m a student at Buffalo State, I’ve been working on the business and saving money for three years. I also have some financial help from a friend. Working in Thailand gave me the skills to fix all sorts of cell phones and computers… I even taught myself to fix a Mac. I can replace cracked computer and smart phone screens, can troubleshoot problems, and fix just about everything. I’m going to have quick turn around times and reasonable rates – I want to service the West Side, especially the growing immigrant and refugee communities. My plan is to offer phone and computer accessories as well. I feel that Grant Street would be the perfect place to offer these items – when I first came to Buffalo there were just a few businesses on the street, and now there are a bunch of new businesses. It’s a fast growing and diverse community. I would like to call the business IT Garden.”
It won’t be long before the West Side will have a place to pick up memory sticks, computer cords, etc. Aung will also offer cell phone and computer plans. Once a computer or cell phone is out of warranty, they can be a headache to get fixed, and quite expensive to boot. In an age when often times our first impulse is to throw away our technology and buy new, there’s something to be said for getting our tech toys repaired instead of replaced. Also, just think about all of the old usable equipment that we have just sitting around collecting dust. There is a growing population of immigrants and refugees that could use perfectly good (but outdated) cell phones, computers, etc. Aung can make sure that they are functioning sufficiently and then sell them at his shop for reasonable prices. “That’s why I believe that this business will be successful,” Aung said. “There’s a real need for this sort of thing.”
At this point, Aung is looking to fill the retail space, but he mentioned that he would consider sharing a part of the storefront with another business, as long as there was enough synergy between the concepts. If you’ve been looking for a non-IT retail footprint on Grant Street, you can reach out to Aung via email.