Longtime Boerner’s Appliance store boasts new location
The show room smells new and its stock of home appliances are shiny and new, but the owners are not yet 50 and the store is nearly 70 years old.
When Jerrie and Russell Boerner opened their appliance store on west Marland in 1949, they were dedicated to service and to providing an opportunity for people in Hobbs and the surrounding area to have the home appliances they needed for themselves and their families.
“They wanted to be known for their honesty and dependability,” said their daughter-in-law and current co-owner Sandra Boerner.
Those same watchwords apply today for Sandra and her husband, Augie, who took over the operations of Boerner’s Appliance store eight years ago and moved it to its new location at 4502 N. Lovington Hwy.
“When Augie and I took over the store, (honesty and dependability) was the tradition we wanted to maintain,” she said.
Augie has worked in the family business for 30 years, since he was 17 and it’s a part of his identity.
“Being part of this business has been a blessing to me and to Sandra and our children,” Augie said. “We want it to be a blessing to the community.”
In order for the business to continue to be a blessing, the younger Boerners have tried to improve the store every year they’ve owned it. The move to the new location is one of those improvements, Sandra said.
“We wanted it to be more accessible to more people,” Sandra said. “We’ve got room for more stock, but the big thing is that our shop area is bigger.”
Having a shop large enough to meet the needs of the 50-70 service calls that come into the store during a typical week is important to the Boerners.
“When a woman calls and says she’s got an emergency with a washing machine or with a kitchen stove and I can go out an fix it for her, it makes me happy that I’ve been able to get the thing back in operation. I always enjoy the fact that the customer appreciates what I’ve done,” Augie said. “But, I don’t want anyone to think we can fix just anything. There are some things that can’t be fixed and there are others that would cost so much to fix, they shouldn’t be fixed.”
Sandra said that they believe every person deserves courtesy and respect.
“That’s what we try to provide every person who comes into this store,”
Part of the service Boerner’s Appliance provides is access to credit purchases.
“We offer options for people both with and without credit,” Sandra said. “And they are good options. People can buy for cash or they can pay off their purchase in 30, 60 or 90 days and pay interest on the purchase price, or they can pay the whole thing off over 12 months and not pay any interest. Those options give more people a chance to buy appliances they need. And we all speak Spanish, so we can talk to and help all our customers make good choices.”
For people who want to make their own repairs, the store carries an extensive supply of parts.
“We don’t have everything, but we can order almost anything and get it in one or two days,” Augie said.
The Boerners plan a grand opening on April 26. It will include what Sandra called, “A really nice door prize. We’ll want everyone to come and celebrate with us,” she said.
