Appliance repairman recycles
By CYNTHIA AUKERMAN
News-Gazette reporter
Tony Mart, a Union City appliance repairman and businessman, thinks it's a shame to let something go to waste when it can be recycled. He applies that attitude to washers and dryers, stoves and refrigerators, and buildings too. He has moved his business from a garage at his Hillgrove home to the west Oak Street building that once housed Carpenter's Grocery Store.
"It's not the age, the number of years something has," Martz says. "It's whether it's good enough to get your money out of it."
Mart converted the former grocery store, which had been vacant for years, into a nice display area for dozens of revamped appliances. The market was growing, and he wanted a place that would look nice to display his work.
"Just because it's used doesn't mean it can't look nice," Martz explains. That applies to his building and to his merchandise.
The appliances Martz inspects, fixes and cleans up are guaranteed for 30 days, and they are priced at half or less of a new appliance. That pricing is a boon to people on a limited budget or newlyweds. Too often people jump into debt to pay for an appliance, Mart says.
"Rent-to-own and charge cards just make the rich get richer and the poor get poorer," Mart declares.
Many of the appliances that Mart refurbishes keep on working for years and years. He hears the story over and over again about an appliance somebody bought 10 years ago that is still running strong.
A Mississinawa Valley graduate, Mart learned his trade by on-the-job training in a small shop in Greenville for 10 years. He doesn't think too much of official appliance repair classes compared to on-the-job practical training. Major manufacturers have classes so repair people people can become "factory authorized," but he never had that opportunity because he worked in a small shop.
Mart says the main thing is for an appliance repairman to have some skills in electricity and refrigeration and some business sense.
The repair shop opens at 9 a.m. weekdays, closes at 3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and is open until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Mart handles three to five calls a day. The shop rate for repairs is $35 if the appliance comes to him, $45 if he goes to the appliance.
Some of the used appliances have longer guarantees, such as 90 days on a 26 cubic feet side-by-side refrigerator/freezer that is for sale for $400. That compares to a brand new model for $1,000. He has washer and dryer sets for $200.
Mart's work carries an even more important guarantee: his knowledge about which brands of different appliances last the best. He won't name brands for print, but he will name them for an individual's consideration. The most important thing is that he won't sell an appliance that is worn out.
"You could say this is my ministry," Mart concludes. "This area needs all the help it can get. This is what I do."
