MINTO — Keith Askett of the Askett Appliance Center in Palmerston has made the decision to step down and close his shop.
“I just decided it was time for me to move on,” Askett explained.
He added that he is grateful to all the people who have supported him over the years.
The business owner has operated the Askett Appliance Center since 1969 and held a retirement sale in late May this year.
The Askett Appliance Center has been located in downtown Palmerston for more than 50 years and in recent years the business has either boomed or sustained growth depending on the ups and downs of the local economy.
When Askett opened its doors, there were no other home appliance stores in town.
As a mechanic, Askett loved fixing things and remembered that electronics seemed the way to go for him.
However, Askett has seen “huge changes” in the home appliance business over the years.
In an interview with the Advertiser in 2019 during its 50th year in business, Askett stated that most of the equipment was sold and manufactured in the region when it began operations.
Repair work used to be an important part of his business.
He noted that repairing equipment today has a lot more to do with computers than with motors. It is now a more specialized field.
Askett has long been deeply involved in the Palmerston community.
Before opening the shop, he was City Councilor of Palmerston for four years and Mayor of the borough for a total of 14 years, with a few interruptions.
The business owner hasn’t had to hire much help in the last five decades. He was fortunate to be able to rely on family members to help run the store when he was unavailable.
Askett’s daughter Chris Craig said Askett would probably still be running the store if he weren’t 88 years old.
“He just knew he couldn’t do it himself anymore. But times have also changed tremendously and the way people shop has changed,” explained Craig.
She added that Askett used to stock appliances, citing the example that whenever someone needed a new refrigerator, they would be right there and they could get it, or ask Askett to deliver it – and he did did it.
“When the pandemic came, everything kind of stopped and then everything got hard to get. And he found it very frustrating that he couldn’t have the stock on hand when people needed it,” Craig said.
As consumers have been ordering more things online since the pandemic, many small businesses have felt the impact – including Askett Appliances.
“If people don’t support them and they shut them down, they won’t have anyone because there’s no more help. There is no more customer service,” Craig explained.
Askett wanted to help others fix their devices so they didn’t have to buy a new one right away.
Craig says that if an element of a furnace broke, Askett would know how to fix it. Technological change, and it was changing so rapidly, made this more difficult for Askett when it came to newer products.
Craig says her father would not only sell consumers a device, but help them understand when things went wrong and how to install them.
In 2019, Askett also stated, “These days young people like to shop in the big stores and everyone has a pickup truck so they can buy their washing machines in town and throw them in the back of the truck.”
“It definitely makes a business difference.”
He added that today’s devices aren’t that heavy either.
Craig mentioned that Askett belongs to the generation that values the three principles “reduce, reuse, recycle” very highly.
She says he lived this way long before it was common.
Craig remembers that her father was very frugal and kept his business to the bare essentials.
“I admire him for that,” she said.
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https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/askett-appliance-centre-closes-after-more-than-five-decades/
