CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
“I was so impressed with your company’s fast service and reasonable pricing that I will be recommending your services to friends. Thanks Guys!"
-Al D.
San Francisco, CA
"Wow! It's really great to talk to a real person. You solved my problem in no time. Having supplies for my typewriter, at a super price, is a definite plus!"
-Jane W.
Pittsburgh, PA
Being from the U.K. I thought my Smith Corona electric typewriter
was unusable because it needed some parts and some
technical tuning. Thank goodness I found Will Repair Service.
The International community has needed this
service. I also got a new manual that wasn't just a copy, but an original
printed by Smith Corona! Thank you for being there for me.
Paul Hebelthwait
Heathrow, UK
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Your Smith Corona* shopping mall
There's a big difference when you speak with us about your typewriter. Helping you is very personal to us. As a potential customer, comfort and
feeling that our home is yours,
is what we're all about.
We aren't a typical brick and mortar store. Our walls reach across this wonderful Country and around the world!
"The 'typewriter' hasn't been replaced by computers. You know there are tasks that a typewriter can do that your laptop or PC just can't." - Bob Will
Will Repair Service not only fixes typewriters, but sells them too!
If you want a Smith-Corona model, even if it was made a number of years ago, and you really want to buy it, give us a call or send a note and let us know. We have many models, new and refurbished, in stock.
5117 Farmlane Road, Dunkirk, New York 14048
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Will Repair Service
*Smith Corona is a registered trademark of Smith Corona Corporation
'Smith Corona Typewriter' Segments have been on
the CBS Evening News
We
are
Smith
Corona
to
the
World
Typewriter Program Inserts are on
"The Morning Show" -
CBS TV
MONDAY, JUN 18, 2012 08:00 PM EDT
Time for a typewriter renaissance?
BY JESSIE SCHIEWE
It was 4 p.m. on a Thursday, two hours until the end of Jesse Banuelos’ workday. He was standing behind the front counter of Berkeley Typewriter, his trademark green apron tied around his waist. A dozen broken typewriters — some electric, but most of them manual – were stacked in a corner on the brown linoleum floor.
Forty years ago, the shop was at the top of its game. But during the ’90s, as computers became more affordable, fewer customers bought typewriters or needed them repaired. Many typewriter stores went out of business. Berkeley Typewriter laid off some staff and managed to remain open by offering services like printer, photocopier and fax repair. Banuelos is the store’s only remaining technician who knows how to fix typewriters. He never learned how to type on a computer and for a time he worried that the typewriter industry would soon disappear.
He was wrong. In the last few years, both typewriter sales and repairs have increased at the store. Berkeley Typewriter experienced an increase in overall sales in 2011, moving about two or three a week. It’s not like the olden days, Banuelos said, but it’s enough.
Most of the typewriters that he sells or takes in are manual machines made between the early 1900s and the 1960s. The dozen or so brands displayed in Banuelos’ front window read like a row of multicolored tombstones: Royal, Remington, Underwood, Smith-Corona, Olivetti, Corona, Adler, Oliver.
Banuelos, who started working at the store 44 years ago, when he was in high school, isn’t surprised by the recent bump in interest. Typewriters are beautiful objects, he said. People want to buy them.
“We have customers all the time,” he said. “[It’s] somebody’s birthday, somebody’s anniversary, or somebody in love with a young boyfriend.” To want a typewriter, you have to be a bit of a romantic, he added, “and besides, they’re cool.” They can also be a relief from computers and the distractions of the Internet. “They want a machine that has to be old, unique and nice,” Banuelos said. “Why? Because of this. The click, click, click. They want that.”
Some customers bought machines years ago and still come in for repairs. Others used one when they were young and are nostalgic. But most of the customers are typewriter newbies, many of them in their 20s. Typewriters are never going to be a home or office mainstay again, but they’ve found new fans among hipsters who are repurposing them for the digital age.
