Johnsons' Millennium Computers expands into smaller space

Growth is what most small business owners aim for, and Marc and Michelle Johnson reached an important milestone last month -- they moved from retail space they rented on East Main Street, Batavia, to a location on Washington Avenue that they own.

The Johnsons set up shop for Millennium Computers, founded in Batavia in 1997, in the former real estate office of Feary Cohen.

Marc Johnson said he had been planning for a couple of years to move Millennium into space he owned and bought vacant land on Washington next to the Cohen office a couple of years ago.

This past summer, he said, Howard Cohen called him and offered him the Feary Cohen space. It was a deal he couldn't pass up, he said.

"As an entrepreneur, you want to keep reinventing yourself," Johnson said.

While the new space is smaller, that's better Johnson said. It enables him and his staff to work more efficiently. They can handle multiple projects more easily.

It also helps that they were able to redesign the office -- which is based on a plan created by Michelle -- to suit their needs.

The office is designed, he said, for efficiency and openness, so that when needed, customers can work directly with the tech fixing or upgrading their computers.

And there's room to grow, either on the vacant parcel to the east or on the south side of the building.

"If business continues to increase the way it has over the past two years or so, I don't see any reason why we won't be able to expand," Johnson said.