When Montgomery City resident Chris Barger opened his computer shop PC Wizards on Sept. 10, he was thrilled to restart a business that was operated when he was a young boy in the 1990s.

Barger started his six-year tenure at the shop with his father Alan when he was 12 years old in 1995 in Fayette. Now, he’s operating the revived version of PC Wizards at his home at 411 South Wentz in Montgomery City.

“I gained 30 years of experience the last time the shop was open,” Barger said. “There’s pretty much nothing that I can field from the citizens of the community in terms of what they might need. The computer sales were a driving force in the 1990s and early 2000s. It’s not so much about computer sales now because the prices have gone down. There are Chromebooks, etc. From the demographics I have done in the surrounding areas, there is still a strong desire for computer repair, tablet repair and phone support in the area.”

Barger’s home had a garage fire in February 2024. The only items that survived from the fire was a 1995 newspaper photo on the ribbon cutting of PC Wizards and Barger’s white PC Wizards shirt.

The photo inspired Barger to reopen PC Wizards. It included him, his father and three other workers.

Currently, Barger is seeking to move his shop to the Montgomery City business district in the future.

“I’m going to approach some of the organizations like Reach Church to see if there are any property owners,” Barger said. “I know the city has a list of landlords for the county. I figured I would contact them. I don’t need much space at all. It can be a pretty small storefront.”

Barger said the PC Wizards shop was opened 30 years ago after his father found out that his son had talent in computers.

“Dad started the shop for the purpose of expanding my skill set because I was a technician and I did the work there,” Barger said. “From the time I was 12 until 18, I worked at PC Wizards.”

Barger graduated from Montgomery County High School in 2001. Nine years later, he received a CISCO certified certificate.

Barger moved back to Montgomery City in 2020 to help out his father, who has been having health issues. He later decided to find work in the Montgomery City area.

“It’s simply because I didn’t want to return to a career position with my dad’s health in the way it was,” Barger said. “I didn’t want anything to take me away from him because he’s kind of going out. But I wanted something local and close.”

The revived PC Wizards shop will service all PC makes and models and offer on-site calls.

“I can almost assure you that I can be cheaper than the alternative,” Barger said. “I can be very competitive in my pricing.”

Barger worked as a principal IP network engineer for Chariton Valley Telephone, which holds its headquarters in Macon. He also ran a computer shop named Computer Wizards in Moberly and has been doing projects in artificial intelligence, also known as AI.

The 42-year-old Barger said there is an explanation on why his shop is called PC Wizards.

“Where the wizards came from is that when I was working with machines, I would fix them fast enough that people thought it was magic,” Barger said. “I picked the name for the shop when I was 12. So let’s do PC Wizards. I like wizards and stuff. Surprisingly, my parents went with that.”

To contact PC Wizards, call Barger at 636-201-6575.