FixPC in Stowe shuts down, won’t reboot

FixPC receptionist Laura Schuler said she’s heard devastated reactions from clients disappointed they won’t be able to bring their computers to the South Main Street repair shop anymore, including jokingly likening the news to Donald Trump’s candidacy for president.

Springer and Butler have been in the computer business for over 30 years, ever since Springer and his brother, John Springer-Miller, started Springer-Miller Systems in 1984 on Mountain Road. Springer worked there for three years before establishing his own computer repair shop, which he called Micro Computer Assistance.

Lettered in white on the green Vermont license plate on Springer’s car was what would fit — “FIXPC.”

“That was the entire marketing budget,” Springer recalled with a laugh — $48 per year for custom tags.

It didn’t take long for the name of the shop to change to what’s still on the sign mounted outside the yellow house on South Main Street in the lower village: FixPC, the ‘F’ a wrench clenched around the dot in the ‘i,’ busily tuning it up.

Frank and Mort

For both Springer and Butler, their passion for computing was a case of love at first click — or, in Butler’s case, first punch.

She was introduced to computers in 1967, helping her dad program punch cards while he was completing his research.

“I thought it was the most interesting thing I’d seen in my life yet,” Butler said. “I was very young,” but the aspect of problem solving inherent in computer programming snatched up her interest. It would become her career.

“When personal computing started, we got right into it,” Butler said. “I was an accountant at that point and I thought a machine to do the tax forms was the world’s best toy, ever. I started with a Commodore 64. They were just toys.”

Is Butler still as passionate about computers?

“To answer that question, I should tell you I spent the last little while playing Dragonville,” she said, laughing. “I’m a heavy computer game person. I still think computers are marvelous toys.”

Springer got his start early too; his father worked for IBM, “doing computerized scoring for the Olympics,” Butler said.

Springer came from Stowe — his grandmother used to live where Springer-Miller Systems now resides on Mountain Road — and he returned here after marrying Butler in 1973 in Philadelphia, where the pair had helped run a cooperative restaurant. Butler came from Toronto.

After a brief stay in upstate New York, where they were part of the dinner theater scene, Springer and Butler returned to Stowe to look after the Springer boys’ aging grandmother.

“This was home base for the boys,” Butler said, “and once we got to Stowe, this was it.”

When Springer started FixPC, Butler was teaching computer literacy at Stowe Elementary School, but she transferred her tech acumen to her husband’s new business shortly after it opened.

Of course, she has never stopped teaching computer literacy; she’s just not on the faculty of a school.

Butler and Springer operated FixPC out of their house in Nebraska Valley until 2000. While most people were fearing their computers would reset for Y2K, Butler and Springer, who knew better, were preparing for a business reset: That was the year FixPC got its own digs, renting space in the old brick building behind Robert C. Bauman’s optometry office.

A few years later, they bought the cheerful yellow house on South Main Street and did a few renovations. Today, it houses their business and an apartment. They plan to hold on to the building for now, Butler said.

Now what?

Springer and Butler have been talking about closing for quite some time, Springer said.

The business was even on the market for a while, but they couldn’t find the right buyer. When one of their techs left earlier this year and they faced the prospect of trying to find and train a new hire, they decided to make the leap.

“We were burned out and needed a break,” Springer said.

They’ll be getting it, and they couldn’t be more relieved.

“The status of life right now is totally open,” Butler said, smiling. “It’s exciting. We’re walking away from the stress of a 24/7 business. It’s a little bit scary, but we’re still young enough to think about what’s next.”

Butler and Springer don’t know yet what they’ll be doing, but they look forward to having time to pursue their hobbies. Springer plays guitar and sings in a local band called Sound Mind, something he’s hoping to devote more of his time to.

“I hope Frank plays more golf,” Butler said, and she’s looking forward to more time for a social life.

There’s a tinge of sadness when Springer and Butler talk about closing up shop, but it’s light. They’d be sadder if they were leaving the Stowe community entirely, but they’d never do that, Butler said. This is home.

People are sure going to miss that wrench-shaped “F”’ on South Main Street, though.

“We’ve had people say ‘No, you’re not (closing),’” Butler said. “It’s not that we don’t care. We’re trying to facilitate matches” so people can still get the tech help they need, suggesting companies like The Tech Group in South Burlington and Small Dog Electronics in Waitsfield.

For Stowe business owners and employees, though — including town government employees — a switch is hard to digest.

“We called them on a weekly basis,” Denise Earley, a manager at Stowe Public House, the Boutique on Main Street and Stowe Mercantile, said.

“Any issues we have, we call them all the time. It was like, ‘What are we going to do when they leave?’ For years they’ve been our savior. They’ll be missed.”

“They’ve done our IT work for as long as I can remember,” Susan Rousselle, sales director for Stowe Area Association, said Tuesday. “And I’ve been here 19 years. It’s not just them coming in to fix things. They’re friends. This is the end of an era.”

FixPC also does tech support for the town.

“They’ve done our IT for over 20 years,” Cindy Fuller, finance manager for the town of Stowe, said. “They’ve done all the town. They give us advice and equipment and keep our network online. Being local was really great. It’s sad.”

(Author’s note: FixPC has darkened the Stowe Reporter’s doorways to lighten our loads when our systems go down on many an occasion.)

“We want the opportunity to say thanks,” Springer said.

“We really do appreciate the support. We enjoy the people, the work, the community. When I was leaving the school system, I knew the community was so rich, and so interesting,” Butler said. “This is a wonderful small town.”