Business of the Week: Appliance Parts and Equipment Distributors

has been in Suisun City for almost 30 years now. Its current owner, Rick Gwyn, has operated the business for five years, originally taking ownership of the store as a way to help with his own repair shop, Allstar Appliance Service.

“We were having a problem finding parts or getting parts on a regular basis, and this (store) was available so we bought it,” said Gwyn.

Gwyn grew up in Tampa, Florida, but moved to California after joining the Navy 21 years ago; he was stationed at Mare Island. While in the service, Gwyn worked on computers, but prior to that he already had an interest in learning about how things worked. He learned the appliance repair business from a family friend who owned a shop back home.

“I learned how to fix appliances before I even went into the Navy and started working on computers…” he said. “My first job in the tech business was helping him with the repair business in Tampa.”

Nowadays, Appliance Parts and Equipment Distributors offer their customers 40 years experience from both Gwyn and his store clerk, Don Cram. They don’t do repairs within the store, but they do offer in home repair for most major home appliances.

 “If they call for Whirpool, Frigidaire, GE, Dacor, Sub-zero and Wolf, any of those major brands, we’ll go to their house and fix their appliances, but this (store) is for people who want to fix it themselves,” he said.

The store does not service heating, venting and air conditioner units, but has more than 30,000 parts for appliances and HVAC systems. Since they offer such a wide variety of parts, it is a store of choice for many local businesses that offer service repair, as well. You don’t have to be a repair professional, however, to benefit from the store.  Often times Gwyn or Cram can help customers diagnose an issue they are having and determine if it is an easy fix.

“Most of the time we can talk them through what problems they’re having if they can explain what their having, and tell them what to look for and how to test it and so forth and they come in here for the parts,” said Gwyn.

Gwyn said it is important that customers have the model number of their appliances so he can help them troubleshoot. With enough information they can often times narrow down the problem so customers don’t have to buy parts they don’t really need.

“I prefer to sell the right part at a good price so that they come back to me every time…“ he said. “I want them telling their friends these guys not only knew what they were doing but they helped me save some money because they helped me get the right part.”