Picture Perfect Business for 40-Plus Years in Bensalem

Mel Brandt had worked as an engineer for the Army Signal Corps., RCA and Magnavox before becoming a field supervisor and national sales manager for Magnavox.

Family conversation convinced him it was time for a change in 1969.

"My kids didn't want me to travel, so I started this business," he said.
"This business" is , located at 1554 Bristol Pike for 43 years.

Brandt first rented his space, with his 8-year-old son, Lance, in the younger Brandt's words, "cleaning ... and having fun."

"They were building the old Wawa across the street and that is what encouraged me, thinking there would be traffic," said Mel Brandt as he sat in his small office.
Today, "in essence we're partners," the 81-year-old Brandt said as his son stood in the doorway.

Not surprisingly, much has changed for the business as technology has exploded over the last four decades. In the beginning, Brandt "put a TV in the window, built (work) benches and came up with the slogan, 'Let us make your color TV set happy.''

"Before I knew it, people were carrying in their color TVs," he said.

"Color TV had just hit a boom year when I opened," he added. "I was working out of a dilapidated minivan. Andalusia Cycle was across the street then and we were friendly and one day they gave me a truck."

Next, the company "rode the crest of the VCR boom" and added antennae installation before Comcast cable arrived, Brandt said.

Before the recent recession, Andalusia TV had 15 employees. Today it's seven full-timers and a couple part-time employees.

"Like everyone else we are concerned by and affected by the recession but we are diligently doing our best to attract our customers by keeping our costs down and minimizing expenses," said Brandt.

He attributes more than four decades of longevity to "good business acumen and keeping up with the times." That includes expanding to providing repair for laptops, faxes, commercial scanners and even plumbing cameras. And all the while keeping his technicians on the cutting edge of technology with classes, many taken online.

"We have so many certifications we stopped hanging them on the walls," Brandt said.

"We have highly trained technical people here, not board changers," he added.

One highlight for the Bensalem company came in 1999 when Andalusia TV & Video was named the top television servicer in the country by Sharp Home Electronics.

"That doesn't mean we have a fancy place like Geek Squad. But for every dollar we spend, they spend $4,000 or $5,000 on advertising," he said.

And unlike the big-name competitors, the Brandts said, Andalusia TV charges $49.95 for laptop repair estimates and waives that in many cases, such as for repeat customers. Repair estimates for VCRs and CD players are as low as $19.95. And those VCRs continue to come in.

"The other day one of our customers brought in seven VCRs. People don't like to learn new things," said Lance Brandt.

And when the big companies can't fix something, the senior Brandt said, "they send them here."