When a Minneapolis computer repair service known as the Geek Squad was bought by crosstown giant Best Buy Inc. nearly two years ago for $3 million, the tech community was doubtful. "Geek Squad, hopefully, will weather the storm of being bought by an evil empire," wrote a poster called Bohica on www.redsugar.com.

	Krista Schinagl, Post-Gazette Best Buy's Geek Squad Agents at the Homestead store include, from left: Michael Sinchioco, Joshua Showman, Joe Malingowski, Brian Versmessen, Julian Garzez, Paul Walk, Brian Mikashus and Braden Houser. Click photo for larger image.

Founder and -- in the eyes of some purists, sell-out --Robert Stephens has clearly heard this before. But the 35-year-old entrepreneur notes he's still with the squad. He hasn't run off to Florida.

And now he's using the resources of a $24 billion-a-year corporation to infiltrate markets around the country with his version of geek cool -- teams of technicians that stand at the ready, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make house calls on customers struggling with problem computers. Eight of Best Buy's Pittsburgh-area stores will get such geeks effective May 3.

House calls for the PC aren't new, but for the most part, they've been the domain of the little guys -- small businesses and franchises that celebrate their geekiness with such names as Geek Housecalls Inc., in New England, and Geeks On Call, in Norfolk, Va.

For Geek Squad, the Best Buy affiliation was too good -- and big -- to pass up. The large electronic retailer is in the process of rolling out the operation to 425 stores in 45 U.S. markets. The plan is to take just a few months to retrain the stores' technicians, remodel the service desks and add 24-hour, in-home service.

For Best Buy, getting into the rapid-response service business may help differentiate it from such low-price retail competitors as Wal-Mart, Costco and even Amazon.com, said Steven Baumgarten, an analyst with Downtown investment firm Parker/Hunter. If done well, the computer repair service could build customer loyalty and create new revenue with high profit margins.

Best Buy hasn't done computer repair well in the past in the opinion of Sewickley entrepreneur Jay Armstrong, who founded his Computer House Call business a few years ago. With this new project, Armstrong expects to lose some market share to the big company's marketing power and store presence, but he's not convinced that the retailer will hire the experienced staff who can quickly handle the complicated viruses and computer fixes that plague customers.

Geek Squad's Stephens seems to be trying to address some Best Buy issues. He said he told the retailer's executives that it couldn't make people wait three weeks for parts or allow manufacturer's warranties to muddle the process. "They were listening," he said. "That reassured me."

The Geek Squad has had a good response in test markets, Stephens said. Certainly, it's marketed more effectively than the average repair service.

Customers will likely notice the squad's uniforms -- white shirt, black tie, white socks, black pants -- and the black-and-white Beetles assigned to so-called Double Agents who make house calls. It's a memorable look, but Stephens swears the goal isn't just to create a recognizable brand.

He said he was hoping to create a culture that elevates the computer repair career and does not in anyway resemble the insulting computer guys featured in "Saturday Night Live" skits.