The 15-year-old A Plus Electronics joins the Internet age with a new Web site.

By Jessica Marshall
The Wichita Eagle

Fifteen years ago, John Lee ended his pursuit of a musical career, after the breakup of his band, to start an electronics business.

Lee played with the Saddle Tramps for four years, traveling across the country, and before that he was installing car stereos and doing odd jobs in electronics.

"I'd been doing it for so long, I was like the resident guru of electronics for the band," Lee said. "It's just what I've done all my life, since the '70s. It made sense to make a career out of it."

In 1985, Lee opened A Plus Electronics, now at 343 New York. He specializes in home theaters, as well as whole-house audio-visual systems and lifestyle electronics.

"We've changed our direction several times since opening, and business has been good over the years," Lee said. "Home theater systems are becoming more and more popular in this area every day."

In an effort to expand his services, Lee has started a Web site, www.apluselectronics.com, offering a comprehensive overview of the products and services the company offers for the residential and small-office arena.

"It took a lot of work, but it's an extension of the way electronics and technology is changing," said Lee, who spent more than three months setting up and designing the site. "It's a tremendous tool for the business, and customers can check it out to see what we're all about."

Lee said he took time putting the Web site together because he wanted to make it a good one.

"I didn't want to put just junk on there," he said. "I wanted to be careful about how it should be, since it represents the company and what we do."

The new feature of A Plus Electronics that Lee is hoping to highlight with the site is high definition TV and the convergence of computers and the Internet into home theater systems.

Lee said he doesn't think of his store as a retail store -- even though it is an authorized dealer of Kenwood, JVC, Panasonic, Toshiba and Apple products -- but as a showroom, and an installation and programming service.

"We do demos for the customers in the showroom, which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to two or three hours depending on how many different things the customer's interested in seeing," Lee said.

Although showroom hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, A Plus Electronics works by appointment only.

"I do that out of respect for my customers," Lee said. "If they make an appointment with me, I will lock the door and give him or her my full and devoted attention."

For information, call 265-0366 or fax 265-0641.