By Maggie Newman, Staff Writer
Over the decades Big Lake has changed immensely, but throughout it all, Aubol’s TV, Appliance and Repair was a mainstay.
Perhaps changing brand names of the appliances sold, but never the nature of the business or their customer service motto.
“We sell the best and serve the rest” was a phrase that stuck with Aubol’s TV, Appliance and repair for over eight decades.
After 84 years in the Big Lake community, Aubol’s TV, Appliance and Repair has closed their doors and the building was sold to McChesney Heating and Air Conditioning last week. Carl Aubol said the main reasons for selling the business was because of his health, as he has undergone two back surgeries, as well as trying to keep up with the big box stores.
In 1934, Carl and David’s parents Harold and Eleanor Aubol began their endeavor in the TV and appliance business, setting up shop in Big Lake right along Hwy. 10. Harold and Eleanor also operated a Texaco filling station on the other side of the tv and appliance building.
This is where the Aubol’s started their business as well as their family, raising Carl and David. “I lived there, I grew up in the two-bedroom apartment in the back of the store” said Carl. Sixteen years later his brother David was born and grew up there as well.
Carl remembers the first phone they had was a crank phone. Years later a pay phone was put in at the Texaco station and once a month the company would come around to collect the change. Eventually as the times changed, so did the phones and the store finally got a landline.
Over the years employees came and went, but not Kenny Stein and Ray Swanson. They worked a combined 76 years at Aubol’s and were a big part of the business, said Carl. The hours of operation pretty much stayed the same over the years, Monday through Friday 8 to 6, Saturdays from 9 to 3 and they were closed on Sunday.
Remarkably, Harold built one of the first amplifier systems in the area to service folks in Becker.
He was also the inventor of the suppressor which first permitted automobiles to have static-free reception of the AM sets.
In 1976 after Harold passed away, Carl and David took over running the family business and have been there ever since. They both have fond memories of their time at Aubol’s TV, Appliance and repair. The first TV’s sold were 16-inch picture tube TVs and included the brands RCA and Zenith, said Carl. They also sold the brands Whirlpool, Frigidaire as well as a few others.
Throughout all the years Carl spent working there, his favorite memories are those of the customers. After all, they would not have had a successful business without the loyalty they brought with them.
David remembers in the summer of 1952, customers could get five gallons of gas for one dollar. He also remembers the tornado that blew through Big Lake, which ripped off the school roof and tossed it right between the Texaco Station and the tv and appliance store. That day when the weather started to get bad, they went inside and watched as the wind blew the sign insert right out of the frame.
Over the years the appliance business has revolutionized, and things have become more mechanical, including mini computers inside of stoves, washers and dryers, making them harder to service and requiring special tools, said David.
