Manor appliance store owners retire after 45 years in family’s business

Sept. 01--After 45 years, Barker's Appliances in Manor will have new owners.

Tom and Mary Ann Barker of Rayburn have sold the store on Wray Plan Road to Ford City residents James and Leah Mathis. The Barkers retired on Monday.

"I didn't want to just shut it down on my loyal customers," Tom Barker said. "My dad always said that you've got to give a young fellow a chance, which is what we're doing by selling it."

Tom's parents, James and Genevieve, started the business in 1969. Barker was working for a construction company then and lived with his parents. When he got done with work in the afternoon and on Saturdays, he would help his father deliver and move appliances.

"I just wanted to lend him a hand, especially since he was taking care of my room and board," Barker said. "I never intended to take over, but my dad just taught me the business and I fell right into it."

He quit construction and took a full-time position at the store in 1971. He purchased it 20 years later.

The store specializes in selling washing machines, dryers, microwaves, refrigerators and dishwashers. It employs repairmen Kevin Klingensmith and Adam Anthony to service and repair just about any type of appliance.

"There isn't anything we sell that we don't service here, ourselves," Barker said. "Everyone else has an 800 number -- we've got Kevin and Adam -- and that's what's gotten us so many customers."

Barker and his wife's plans for retirement include spending time with family, hunting, fishing and doing projects around their home.

"There's nothing big, just lots of little things that we haven't had time to do because of the store," Barker said.

The Mathises said they will honor all outstanding warranties and continue servicing appliances now that they have taken over. The new owners plan to keep Klingensmith and Anthony on staff.

Leah Mathis, who sells insurance for State Farm in Saxonburg, will do office work at the store, and her husband said he plans to handle repairs.

James Mathis grew up in Hanover, near Gettysburg, and moved to Ford City when he married his wife, a Kittanning native.

He first worked in appliance repair after he graduated from the York County School of Technology.

"The repair business always gives you something different to do," he said. "I just really like the idea of being able to work on different machines in different places."

He most recently worked at Mr. Appliance in Pittsburgh but has been looking to work closer to home for some time. This year, he applied for a job at Barker's Appliance, but the store wasn't hiring.

In February, after deciding to retire, Barker remembered talking to Mathis and approached his father-in-law, Scott Walter, to find out whether Mathis had any interest in purchasing the business.

"Everything just worked out for us to buy it," Mathis said. "We're going to keep everything the same as it is now. It's going to be business as usual."

Mathis said he and his wife are aware of Barker's Appliances' long-standing reputation in the area, which is why they never considered changing anything about the store.

"The name, the employees, the service -- it's all going to stay exactly the way it is," Mathis said. "If it's not broken, we're not going to break it."

Brad Pedersen is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-543-1303, ext. 1337, or [email protected].

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