XENIA — Eichman’s, located at 39 W. Main St., has been fixing small appliances in Xenia since the 1920s; the business’s original location was destroyed during the 1974 tornado, but Eichman’s service lived on.
Current owner Keith Van Horn stated that the store was originally owned and operated by H.E. Eichman and his son, William Eichman. The original family was very reluctant to sell his business, but they sold it to Van Horn and his wife 17 years ago.
The Gazette posed some questions to the business owner. Here’s what Van Horn had to say.
What does Eichman’s do to get business?
“Word-of-mouth and advertising. Word-of-mouth is better than anything else. We also sometimes advertise in newspapers. Yellow Springs, Xenia … My son made a Facebook page for the store.”
Why did the original owners (the Eichmans) choose Xenia for the business’s location?
“I can’t say for certain, but they were local.”
What’s the most unique item in your shop?
“I don’t know if anything’s unique. We do sweeper parts, sweeper bags. And we do service stuff … nobody else does that anymore. Large appliances, small appliances, we do service.”
What’s one thing you want everyone to know about Eichman’s?
“We’ll put batteries in people’s watches, which we don’t charge to put them in at all, so we have a lot of stuff that nobody else does. Basically, you know, we’ve been doing that for some time now. There’s a lot of good gems in downtown Xenia.”
What can businesses do to make downtown Xenia better?
“I guess for the city and everybody to support the businesses. I’m not bashing on the city or anything, but we used to have schools, and quite a few folks that came in. We don’t ever see them anymore, and we used to have city boys come in, and we don’t see them anymore, you know? So I’m not picking on anyone, but just continued support by the local community … the downtown does mean something to me, and it does to a lot of people. There’s a lot of good businesses that are cheaper. People need to support their downtown businesses a lot more.”
Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To learn more about Eichman’s, visit the store’s Facebook page or call 937-372-9800.
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