Tekserve is an American consumer electronics

Consumer electronics

Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...

 and information technology consulting

Information technology consulting

Information technology consulting is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives...

 business based in the Flatiron District, Manhattan

Flatiron District, Manhattan

The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street, Broadway and Fifth Avenue...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Founded as a side business by Macintosh

Macintosh

The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...

-using engineers designing computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

-controlled institutional electronics, Tekserve has grown from a small back-office Macintosh repair shop to become the largest single-location Apple Specialist

Apple Specialist

Apple Specialist is an independent Apple Inc. reseller which over time has demonstrated exceptional, consistent, and comprehensive knowledge of Apple technology, offers its entire line of hardware and software, offers complete service and support for branded products, and has been designated as...

 in the United States.

History

Tekserve founders David Lerner and Dick Demenus met at the New York City public FM radio station WBAI

WBAI

WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99.5 FM in New York City.Its programming is leftist/progressive, and a mixture of political news and opinion from a leftist perspective, tinged with aspects of its complex and varied...

 in 1970, and with engineer Mike Edl set up shop together late in the decade under the name Current Designs Corporation. Their business was electronic engineering and industrial design. They manufactured the indestructible music listening stations to be found at the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

, and early models of the audio listening tours now found in many art museums. "We bought the very first Mac that came out in 1984 for $3,000, and we fell in love with it." Demenus says, "We’ve been loyal ever since." As Macintosh users and electrical engineers, the Current Designs partners found themselves uniquely qualified to fix their own Macs when they started to malfunction. Tekserve was formed as a "sister company under the same roof" dedicated to servicing Macintosh computers and became Apple-authorized for repair in 1993.

Tekserve has occupied four locations on the same side of the same block in Chelsea

Chelsea, Manhattan

Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...

: a 3000 feet (914.4 m) loft at 115 West 23rd Street; another loft at 163 West 23rd Street (the "Traffic Building"); a larger space on the fourth floor of 155 West 23rd Street, and later expansions to the third floor. In June 2002, the company moved to its present 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) storefront location at 119 West 23rd Street, occupying the entire first floor of the Printing Arts Building (which extends through to 24th street). The first three locations were notable for their eccentric decor, including an antique ten-cent Coke machine and a porch swing. The Coke machine remains at the 119 West 23rd Street location, but the porch swing was retired due to the newest space's substantially higher ceilings.

Popular culture

Several television series, including Law & Order

Law & Order

Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

 and Sex and the City

Sex and the City

Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...

, have utilized Tekserve's facilities as a shooting location. In Sex and the City episode 408, My Motherboard. Myself, Aasif Mandvi

Aasif Mandvi

Aasif Hakim Mandviwala , known professionally as Aasif Mandvi , is an American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent.-Early life and stage career:Mandvi...

 was featured as a Tekserve employee attempting to recover data from Carrie Bradshaw

Carrie Bradshaw

Carrie Preston is the fictional narrator and lead character of the HBO sitcom/drama Sex and the City, portrayed by actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She is a semi-autobiographical character created by Candace Bushnell, who published the book Sex and the City, based on her own columns in the New York...

's portable computer at the smaller 155 West 23rd Street location.