THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408190268
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
MICHELE B. ADAMS has combined her loves into a business.
After having worked in the computer field for years, she now has two children and one on the way. Her business? Little Bytes. She sells computer software for children of all ages, for at home or at school.
``I had been searching for a business that would give me more control of my time,'' she said. ``Also, I was looking for programs for my children and found there wasn't a good source.''
Adams' husband, Chris, co-owner of Little Bytes, came up with the name.
``He wanted to convey the concept of computers and children,'' she said.
The new-to-this-area store opened at 1200 Armory Drive earlier this summer. But it had a previous life in Baton Rouge, La., where the family lived before Chris Adams accepted a job with Union Camp.
Michele Adams had opened Little Bytes in Baton Rouge in November 1993 and had a thriving business going that she hoped she could transplant to Franklin.
``I think we can do even better here,'' Michele Adams said. ``There is less competition.''
Residents of nearby towns and counties have heretofore had to travel to the more metropolitan areas to the east to find software for their children.
``What I am concentrating on mainly is educational: math, science, reading, spelling for all ages, for 2 and up,'' she said. ``A lot of it is game oriented.''
Such software abounds on the market, so much so that as an added service, Adams previews every kind of children's software she can get her hands on so that she knows beforehand and firsthand, which is the best, what it will do, and how to use it.
``That makes us a little different,'' she said. ``Parents and teachers need more information about selection and use.''
Adams' goal is to be able to carry and recommend the best software, that which instructs entertainingly and effectively.
She keeps an inventory of some 300 programs. There are three computers for customers to use in previewing the programs. Adams can advise which software is best to meet parents' and teachers' goals.
``If you have an 8-year-old who is weak in math, I can show several products and the strengths and weakness of each,'' Adams said.
Little Bytes carries software for IBMs and compatibles and MacIntosh computers. It also sells computers.
Customers so far have been mainly thirty-something-year-olds with small children. There has been some interest from teachers, and Adams expects that will increase when school starts.
She is in the process of developing a mail-order catalog that will be sent mainly to area teachers, probably four times a year. The store will stock all that appears in the catalog, but if a customer needs software not in stock, Adams can have it available overnight.
Most customers have been from the small cities, towns and counties surrounding Franklin, although she has had people from Virginia Beach and Norfolk, for example, who ``see the sign and stop in while on business in Franklin,'' she said.
The 1,000-square-foot store is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For now, Adams and one part-time employee work in the store. That number will be expanded before Christmas, she said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Michele Adams keeps an inventory of some 300 computer software
programs for children in her shop, Little Bytes.
by CNB