A Delaware tech recycling center now lets the public buy refurbished items, too

Get rid of old tech, and buy an item that’s new-to-you, all in the same place. 

The NerdIT Now IT recycling center in Riverside is now open to the public, and not just for discarding tech.

NerdIT recently transformed part of its recycling center building into a warehouse sale space where people can buy not only refurbished computers, but also affordable overstock and open box items including furniture, clothing and home goods. It’s the latest offering from NerdIT Now founder Markevis Gideon and wife Kristen Gideon, who is in charge of working with suppliers. 

The walk-in Riverside warehouse will make affordable devices accessible for members of the community who might not qualify to receive one for free through the nonprofit. 

“Because I get so many laptops that might not be donated [to people in the community], I will give really good rates on them,” Gideon told Technical.ly.

NerdIT receives pallets of desktop computers and laptops, many from local businesses that have upgraded their offices. The NerdIT team wipes, refurbishes and tests them. The items that aren’t sent to the nonprofit for distribution or sold to a community organization are put on sale at the warehouse.

Gideon, who took a step back from the nonprofit spinoff in 2022, has since rejoined its board of directors, after replacing its executive director in February. NerdIT Cares’s interim executive director Jabari Jones is interviewing candidates to take over the position full time, and he hopes to have it fully on track again by the first quarter of 2025.

NerdIT Now repairs are back at the recycling center

NerdIT has had an eventful few years, from moving into its former First State Plaza storefront in 2018  to launching the nonprofit NerdITCares in downtown Wilmington in 2023. It even opened a recycling center — now the main NerdIT Now location — in Riverside, across from the expanding East Side Charter School in 2022.

Not to mention a 2019 appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank, where it pitched its digital repair kiosks designed to allow people in office buildings and college campuses to drop off devices for fast turnaround repair. The pitch itself was praised by the Sharks, but ultimately no deal was made, and the kiosk idea is on pause.

“That doesn’t mean we’re not going to come back to it,” Gideon told Technical.ly. Gideon did not reveal what a plan to return to developing the product would look like.

NerdIT holds warehouse sales every Saturday, inviting the community to buy refurbished items and score other deals, but shoppers are welcome to come on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through the back entrance, too. 

People can also now bring in computers and devices to the Riverside location for repair, at least temporarily — eventually, repairs will be taken at the 9th Street NerdIT Cares location. 

A tip for tech shoppers: If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the main area, ask and someone will show you to a device and electronics space with a wide selection of items.

“There’s a lot more than what you see when you first come in,” Gideon said. 

➡️Read more

• How NERDiT NOW is taking on the Geek Squad 

• As NERDiT grows, its workforce development program settles in downtown Wilmington 

• NERDiT NOW and the reality of business inequity in Delaware