Robert Herald, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, moved to Mount Vernon in the early 1950s to be the engineer at local radio station WMVO.
"It burned down six months after he got here," his son, Phil Herald, told the Mount Vernon News.
So in 1952, Robert Herald opened Herald's Electronics, which is still a family-owned company, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
Robert Herald was on the ground floor of television sales as TVs gained popularity in the 1950s, his son said.
"He put up antennas, and he fixed televisions," said Phil.
The store started on the downtown square, and in the 1960s, Herald bought a retail store at 508 N. Main St. and started selling televisions and radios.
"In the 1980s, we got into appliances," said Phil.
In 1991, Phil moved back to Mount Vernon from California, where he had lived for 10 years after college, and bought the family business from his father, still a Mount Vernon resident.
In 1994, the business moved to its current location, 121 S. Main St.
"At first, we were just selling Whirlpool mostly," he said. "When I got involved, we added some additional brands like Frigidaire and GE."
When Phil Herald arrived back in Mount Vernon, there were six independent appliance stores here.
"Today there is only one – us," he said. "The other stores eventually went away because of the Big Box stores."
Herald's Appliances and Electronics joined a large buying group.
"That has allowed us to compete with the big stores," Phil said. "We also added service so that we did something different than the box stores. We not only sell product, but we deliver and sell product as well. We're a full-service appliance store."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Herald's saw its business expand 25-30%, Phil said.
"A lot of the reason was, customers couldn't get products elsewhere," he said. "A lot of times, we could get it with our buying group. It's still hard to get products, even to this day."
Heralds will celebrate its 70th anniversary Saturday, April 30, with an open house, food, drinks and prizes.
Herald's Appliances and Electronics
121 S. Main St.
Mount Vernon, OH 43050
740-393-1806
