Soft-Train Venture : New Computer Schools Conduct Classes in Sears

When you spend four hours a day commuting to and from work, you have lots of time to think of what you could be doing if you weren’t stuck on a freeway.

And that’s exactly where Richard Pasqualino, a middle-aged Orange County high school administrator, dreamed up his new venture: operating a network of computer training centers out of Sears, Roebuck & Co., the nation’s largest chain of department stores.

“It’s the perfect marriage--computer literacy that can be paid for with a Sears credit card,” Pasqualino claims. He hopes to cash in on what some believe will be one of the fastest-growing segments of vocational education in America.

After spending months trying to convince Sears executives that his plan would work, Pasqualino and his Irvine-based Soft-Train Inc. won the right to operate personal computer training concessions in the 28 Los Angeles-area Sears stores. Although Sears has since approved similar programs with other companies in Detroit and Denver, the Southland program was the first to get the nod.

Opened Three Centers

So far, Soft-Train has opened three centers, with a curriculum ranging from computer day camps for kids to retraining programs for laid-off workers, said Pasqualino, whose teaching background includes writing computer-operated remedial education courses for underachieving students.

Courses include instruction in specific business software programs, computer-aided remedial instruction and courses for buyers of computers for the home. The majority of the courses, Pasqualino says, are designed to help students find employment and improve their job skills.

Plans are pending for an additional 21 schools to open within the next 18 months. And, if the regional pilot program is successful, Pasqualino wants Sears to approve nationwide expansion.

At this point, however, Sears is reserving judgment, says Michael Roche, national marketing manager for concessions. Sears, he said, is trying to “test the waters” and has no great expectations or plans beyond the three pilot projects. While early results indicate that the training centers may help Sears sell computers and software, Roche says, “right now this is just these three guys in these three areas.”

“We don’t see this as a great expansion area for Sears,” he adds.

Nonetheless, industry trends appear to be running in Pasqualino’s favor. Although sales of personal computers have yet to rebound fully from last year’s disastrous slide, analysts see computer training as a high-tech area in which explosive growth is expected.

According to Future Computing, a Dallas market research firm, U.S. companies are expected to spend nearly $500 million this year to train their workers in business uses for the personal computer. By 1988, the training price tag is expected to jump to $1 billion. And the fastest-growing segment of the training market, Future Computing says, includes outside consultants and schools; their share of the pie is expected to increase to $280 million in 1988 from $98 million this year.

“High-tech training is the fastest-growing part of our business,” says Jack Polley, a spokesman for National Educational Corp. of Irvine, one of the nation’s largest occupational training schools. “Eventually, we see it becoming the largest part of our operation.”

Still, Pasqualino has to demonstrate that his training formula is a winner.

Although backed by the powerful Sears name, sales at the three centers in Cerritos, North Hollywood and Costa Mesa have yet to become brisk. Because Soft-Train is privately held, Pasqualino isn’t releasing any figures, but the company’s chief operating officer, Michael Brinda, acknowledged that new center openings have been put on hold until the current crop are fully successful.

Still, Brinda claims not to be overly worried. Overall, he says, the Sears name and the sheer number of people who hold its credit cards have to be pluses.

Pays Percentage of Sales

In addition, the deal with Sears calls for Soft-Train to pay the retailer only a percentage of its sales--7% on the first $210,000 and 15% beyond that--for the use of its facilities and name. That deal greatly reduces Soft-Train’s costs of opening new centers because it eliminates the need to obtain leases and make advance rental payments.

“It’s the easiest way in the world to open new stores,” he maintains.

Ironically, the Sears connection may pose a bit of a problem, Brinda adds. According to him, the Soft-Train program at Sears--called “Sears Computer Instructional Center”--is often confused with Sears’ own Business Systems Centers, a group of 100 free-standing stores that sell computers and office software nationwide.

“We’ve got the get the word out that we’re here and that we’re different,” he says.