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U know what would be really cool on this site!! Take a snapshot of tv repair shops signs still in or our of buisness around our cities and towns. Like the ne down from my house here. Diamond tv still has a Zenith quality goes in before the name goes on sign on the building. He is not doing much I. The order of repair anymore but it still Is nice to drive by it and see the sign.

We've still got a local shop in our area. Toton's TV in Crest Hill, IL. I don't know how much repair they're doing these days but they advertise a lot of the newer LCD sets, etc.

I remember a lot of Zenith shops when I was growing up. We had one in the town I was raised in that was also the post office, and there were many rainbow-colored Zenith signs in the surrounding area.

Doug - where'd your pictures go? My grandparents always had their TVs repaired at Bud's - I remember my grandmother having the repairman leave the old parts so she'd have something to show me the next time I came over.

-Jim

There's an appliance store in Gramercy, La. that still has the Zenith & RCA signs in the window, probably form the 70's or 80's. Unfortunately, the only time I'm out that way is at night. Maybe I could get a picture.

There's also a TV shop in Tylertown, Miss. that still has Philco-Ford signage.

Here are the pics of Bud's TV in Harvey, IL (a now not so good south suburb of chicago). Got some other TV shop pics as well as my favorite sign of them all. After the big zenith sign is a picture of the now gone Hallmark TV in North Riverside, IL. The front windows of that shop are where the zenith curtians I have came from. Ever since I was a kid I wanted those curtains and then I got word that the shop was closing down. He was throwing everything away. I asked about the curtains and he said if I could take them down they were mine. There was more too it than that. That was August 9, 06. I think I made a thread about that interesting event. I also used to go to Carmens TV in Berwyn, he always let me putz around in the basement where he had a bunch of scrap chassis, many of which were zenith and rca tube type. He always kinda figured I was in it for the money though. He was one of those guys who thought that because the stuff was old then it was worth all kinds of money. He didn't understand that I was just a kid who loved tinkering with the stuff and only had interest in his "junk" to help keep my hobby alive. He had NOS space command 600 remotes and I remember he told me "I can get over $100 for one of these to the right guy". I could never buy tubes from him though. He had a 1984 ECG philips tube price list on the wall still and I remember tubes like a 6GH8 were somewhere around $15.00. Then he'd say "yeah, $15.00 back in '84. Today I should sell that tube for alteast twice that because nobody makes tubes anymore". He was kind of a scam artist but we always got along. He offered me a job there when I was in high school working part time fixing VCR's. He had shelves full of VCR's and he told me how much he hated working on them and wanted to find a "kid" who could do it for him and work on commission. That shop was a disaster of a mess though, you had to walk sideways to move through the stacked up TV's in the front. It was old restaurant that turned into a TV shop back in the 60's. The lights and fixtures with wood paneling walls were still present from the restaurant days. It was fun, but it only lasted a couple months then he pulled the pin and retired and never heard from him again.

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That is so awesome Doug! That repair shop, Bud's TV, That same sign is here at Diamond TV.

Here's an old shop I found in a little town up in the mountains in Arizona, east of Mesa... It looked to be abandoned, but still had tons of old TVs and stuff in it. Sadly all in terrible shape due to holes in the roof, and vagrants living in the building. The blond girl looking in the window is my wife Kay.

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http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMG_0079.jpg

Charles

You know whats funny, If I didn't know any better it would look like that Emerson set is on with a dim snowy raster! lol

I have GOT to get a digital camera into my local Cracker Barrel restaurant. There's a HUGE Zenith Radio repair shop sign, three unknown tube radios on a shelf, and at least two tube caddies with tube boxes all together on one wall!

Here is Diamond TV in Diamond Springs.

http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/x...9/IMG_0219.jpg

I drive past this place a few times every week. Need to stop in some time and ask if they have any old TVs stashed in the back.

Phil Nelson

http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/RapidRudysTV.jpg

This is such a cool thread! It's nice to see the repair shop buildings still standing!!

Try Google Street View and save the trip!

There are a bunch of TV shops in this area that have closed up, but Google thankfully mapped them and captured them a few years ago. If you know of a place like this in your area, check the Google Street View and see if the shop was "captured" by their cameras.

My Dad closed his shop over a year ago - all signage is now gone, but in Google, it lives!!

Cheers,

I firmly believe in documenting as many of these shops as we can, including talking to the owners and writing things down. I need to do more of it. I have some photos I'll dig out and post-some are on my work computer, some I need to scan.

Here's HESS TV on Chicago's north side. I took this picture in September, 07 when I was going to estate sales. I was unaware of this shop until I drove past it one day and noticed it was another one that went under with nothing but a sign left.

The next picture was taken last weekend. I passed this place while also going to estate sales. "Adams Furniture" on 55th st. in Chicago. Back in the day when you bought a nice TV at the furniture store, note the old Zenith logo in orange on the sign, with the maytag logo next to it.

There is one other sign I have to get a photo of if its still around. Its a shop on the north side with a huge neon that has the admiral and GE logos on it. One of the best "50's" neon's

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Is this the north side shop you were thinking of? Cole's on Lincoln Ave.

http://www.shopcoles.com/img/flourish/about6.jpg

This is an older image I found on their website, the last time I want by there, the Admiral sign and the hanging sign over the door were still there and lit, but the sings on the side had been covered up with something newer.
The signs look really nice at night.

My parents bought a new stove and dishwasher there about 7 years ago, at that time everything was still done by hand with big manufacturer's catalog books and typewriters, no computers in the store. Really nice people.

Max,

Thats the one! Last time I was over there was last December and I remember the sign was still present. It did look great at night. I have to see if its still there and get some night shots. The sign thats over the door that we only see the edge of in the photo has the big GE logo on it I think. Yes, they are non-computer store, all paper and pencil. Stores that give you carbon copy receipts are the best.

I remember when I worked at Gemco Electronics in downtown Chicago in 1979-80, we used the three-color carbon copy receipt machine with the big lever to dispense the finished receipt and load the next one.

Saw a few nifty old washers when I peeked in the window at Harmon's...

Here is the store that was in the town I grew up in, Evey's TV in Preston, MD. I took this sometime in the early/mid-90s. (one day I took a photo of basically every building in the whole town! Glad I did!) They sold Zenith until the early 80s, always GE. Started carrying RCA after GE bought them. Later on they stopped selling electronics and concentrated on appliances. They have been closed close to 10 years now, I guess.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...adow/Eveys.jpg

I wish I had taken a picture of something I saw in West Los Angeles a couple years ago... They tore down a building on Santa Monica Blvd, just west of the 405 Fwy, and exposed the original artwork on what used to be a TV sales & service shop next door to the demolished building. It said "Raytheon-Belmont Television Here NOW!", along with a bunch of other painted signage. That store remained a TV shop for years; becoming Ken Crane's Magnavox City. They moved to a new building several years ago, and are still in business selling Mitsubishi.

I guess I better go get photos of the FEW remaining shops around Los Angeles. They won't have exciting neon signs, and in fact, they're pretty ugly. One in Chatsworth still has the Zenith draperies in the window, but all tattered and torn, and rain-spotted from broken windows slowly happening and fixed over the years.

Charles

I have mentioned the shop I am helping clean out-here it is. Tony's TV & Appliance Center in Milton, DE. He has been at this location since the 60s; it is still open, but they do have it for sale. Hey, guys, you can move near the beach and own your own TV shop!

When you think of an old TV shop, this place is perfect fit for a 1950's/60's looking shop that stood still in time. Perfect building architecture for a TV shop with the tilted windows giving it an added retro look. This one is Burr Oak TV located at 127th st. and western Ave in Blue Island which is just south of Chicago. Its nice to see another shop still going in 2009. Near surburbs are basically like being in chicago still as the near suburbs share so manys similarities. I've picked up a few TV's that had the burr oak tag on them, some of the sets I have were bought new here in the late 60's.
I stopped in after work to talk to the owner. A really nice guy, hes the son of the original owner who started the business in 1951. He works by himself keeping the business alive. I had to ask how business was and he told me its nuts, been working 7 days a week for the past 3 years and that he can hardly keep up with service calls. I didn't doubt him considering what he has to work on. Look at the pictures of whats in his shop! With so many other TV shops closing down, the business, whats left of it is funneling tward him. He does LCD TV work too, told me how easy they are to fix.

What I appricated is that its a shop that respects the past and has a bit of nostalgia by putting those old TV's and tubes in the front window. Just by looking at those tube boxes, I'd say thats been on display for YEARS considering how sun faded everything is.

He didn't have much as far as old color sets, but he had a back room full of CRT's on shelves, many of which are new in box zenith rectangulars. Tons of service data and parts. I explained my interest in old sets expecting a "Whats wrong with you" type of response, but to my surprize it was the opposite. "Thats great, Im glad to hear someone is trying to keep those old sets alive" he tells me. He then offered me to take all of the old parts and CRT's for free! "This stuff has been sitting for years, I'll never use it, you are welcome to take it all". This was a nice offer on his part and we agreed to keep in touch. The shelf of CRT's was unaccessable because of the number of TV's buried in front of it. Notice this shop has "Zenith curtains" too! These ones are black white and blue. Didn't think I'd find anyone else with Zenith curtains. He told me how he got started in the business, as a young kid, his dad used to let him test all the tubes in the TV's. He also told me about the South Suburban Television Alliance which was basically a TV club for all the TV shops on the southside of Chicago. They used to have meetings on the latest and greatest and they would all share experiences with each other and help everyone out. They used to have an annual picnic with all the families invited, bowling outtings and Zenith reps of course were also invited. Basically he told me how much better things were years ago. I hear stories like this all the time and I feel like I really missed out on a very special time to be alive. All I see now is nothing but greed, people stabbing each other in the back trying to advance themselves and willing to step on anyone to get their way. Without going on that topic, I'll end it here by saying that I was pleased to meet Jim and to hear his stories and that he took time out of his busy day to show me around his shop. I would have gotten more pictures of the back room and other parts of the shop, but I didn't want him to think that I was up to something by asking to take pictures of his business. In fact, I had one guy across the street approach me when he saw me taking pictures of the outside, he asked if I was trying to buy the property! The very last picture is one of my favorite TV's in my collection which was bought new at Burr Oak TV on January 25, 1969!

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Additional pictures

That's awesome Doug! Thanks for sharing! I too love that TV, I remember when you found it. I'd like to see this place in person.

I grew up in Oak Lawn.I remember that place in the 60s because my father worked in Blue Island.That place is a real step back in time! I will have to visit it on my next trip to Chicago.
Here in Florida,I have a friend that owns a shop dating back to the 50s.The inside looks just like this place with the amount of sets lying around.Unfortunately,everybody wants their old set repaired for thirty to forty dollars and they abandon them when they find out how much it really costs for repair.I don't know how much longer my freind can stay in business with things the way they are.
If he will let me,I will take some pics of his place and post them

That old Buick is a perfect complement! :thmbsp:
Thanks for those sensational pix!

Tom

Great, great place! And sounds like a great conversation you had. Come on, guys, if you haven't visited your local TV shops now is the time to do it!

Several years ago I visited a little one man shop about an hour from home. I ended up buying a truckload of stuff from him. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died and I couldn't get pictures. I finally got back up that way over the weekend and the place was gone. Well, he was in his 80s. Time waits for no man.

Nice 67 Electra 225, I like those big Buicks. And I miss driving my 72 Centurion (I still have it but I'm just storing it for now.)

I've never had too much luck at old tv shops.

I stopped in one when I lived in Berkeley, (it was full of hundreds of those Zenith hotel sets from the 80s) and the guy didn't want to sell any of the few nice older sets he had, but tried to sell me his stock of tubes at $40 a piece!

The next one I stopped in was in Lafyette (a town nearby) and they had some nice older stuff on display, but didn't want to sell any. But they were nice here, not like that crazy guy in Berkeley who acted all insulted when I didn't want to buy his $40 tubes.

I stopped in quite a few in LA, most of the guys working there were nice, but nobody had any old stuff.

Except for one nutter who wanted to sell me old sets at several thousand a piece, (And I'm not talking about 15" color sets either) He had a 1960 Magnavox b/w combo he wanted 2k for!

I only stopped at one tv shop here in town in MI, they had nothing old. But they were nice guys and offered me whatever I wanted from the junk heap of sets in the back - but it was mostly 1990s bad-crt era Zeniths and I passed on everything there.

Tom beat me to it: that Buick Electra land barge is certainly fitting. I had a car in the shop years ago and they gave me one of those as a loaner. My kids would scrunch down in the back so people wouldn't see them riding in the "Uncle Buck" car (which was a Merc., I think.)

Reece

1975-78 Grand Marquis coupe - I had two four-doors like it. Best road car ever.

We actually had a '75 Lincoln Continental Mark IV land yacht. I recall one cold winter's day in the garage sitting atop the imitation Rolls Royce grille, astraddle the crosshairs hood ornament, changing the timing chain and sprockets.

But I didn't mean to hijack the thread! Onward about TV shops.

Reece

Here are some photos I just took at Coles. At one time there was an additional line of signs along the side of the building, but they have been painted over. They were probably signs for specific companies like the Admiral sign up front. I'm not sure if they would have been neon or just enameled.

I need to go back at night and see the signs lit up.

Down the block, the white building pictured that is now a Currency Exchange was once a TV repair shop. I think they had a Zenith sign up front. They closed about 10 years ago.

This video about an electronics repair shop in Chicago was on Chicago Tonight a few years ago. I thought somebody might be interested in seeing this, sorry it is so small.

http://homepage.mac.com/brameika/PBSTVs.mov

(Quicktime movie)

Wrights Radio & TV appliance 1965 Strathroy, Ont Canada

Repair shop at the back of Wrights TV & Radio, was my favorite place as a kid getting started in audio, I was only 13 at the time. I so,so wanted a HI-FI which it was called then, it was a cabinet with speakers on each side, turntable and AM,FM radio, and those Hi-Fi's put out a sound that was not tiring to listen to all day.
They sold LP's and 45's the top 40 hits, but I remember the two rows of Hi-Fi cabinets the best. The repair shop at the back was packed with radio's, TV's and testers,and also a scope. Two repair man worked in there full time, George and Alvin, they were great, me a kid went in there almost every Saturday, finding out things, asking questions all the time, and they were alway's freindly and alway's had some time for me. All I had was a table radio and I wanted to hook a bigger speaker on it, via a cord to a small box, so they sold me a 8in Pacer speaker for only $5.00, probally at their cost. I remember George smoking a pipe,and he repaired most of the TV's while Alvin repaired all the radios and everything else.
In around 1971, I bought my first color TV, a Electrohome 21 in,that costs $550, I did not have all the money, so I asked if I could pay them every two week's. They said 'sure', so I picked out my TV and paided my first $100.00, but every two weeks I went in and paid another $100, till it was paid for. But what I find so amazing is that when I looked at the reciept when I first picked up the TV, my name was on it and that was it, no home phone number nor any identification was on it, just what I had left to pay.
It was trust that they had, that was your credit was trust.
I remember them always, great people and a great time era.

Totally awesome,, and the Electra parked next to the building is just an added hoot.