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'Mr. Appliance' Filling Niche in New Economy

Gales Ferry Man Starts Business in 2008 After Retiring From Navy

When he was retiring from the Navy in 2008 after 20 years in the service, Gales Ferry resident Mark Wegiel had several ideas about what he could do for the rest of his working life.

One thing he knew he didn’t want to do was go to work for a big company or corporation. “I wanted to have my own business,” said the 43-year-old, who lives with his wife, Nelly, and their two children on Parkwood Drive.

Wegiel, a former Navy diver, had considerable knowledge of mechanics and electrical systems. “Navy divers have to take things apart and put them back together without breaking them,” he said.

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What he lacked was business experience. 

And money. This was 2008, when business loans suddenly were even more scarce than jobs.  

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For Wegiel, the answer was a franchise business called Mr. Appliance. Founded in 1996, Mr. Appliance is North America’s leading appliance repair franchise system, with more than 150 locations throughout the United States and Canada.

It cost Wegiel about $20,000 to get started. He has since invested as much as $100,000 in everything from vehicles to tools to spare parts. His business covers an area from Old Lyme to the Rhode Island border.

Mr. Appliance services major appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers. “Refrigerators are the big thing,” Wegiel said. “People want you there now because their food is going.”

His business has steadily grown each year. The economy actually has helped, he said, because more people are choosing to repair rather than replace.

“Pfizer is a perfect example,” he said, referring to the many hundreds of people who have been laid off from the company’s Groton site in recent years. “Someone who worked at Pfizer a couple of years ago and owned a $1,000 appliance, if they were looking at a $400 repair bill, they might have said ‘let’s just replace it.’

Today they would be more likely to call Mr. Appliance.

The shift from sales to service has been felt across the appliance industry, Wegiel said. “New houses aren’t going up and people aren’t upgrading the way they used to.”

Wegiel services all brands of appliances, from Amana and Bosch to Westinghouse and Whirlpool. Asked who makes the best refrigerator, he suggested consulting Consumer Reports before buying. “Whirlpool is the most popular brand,” he said. “Whirlpool or GE.”

But he said as a rule you get what you pay for. He said you can buy a new dishwasher for $350 at a big box store. “But you’ll be replacing the pump in two years,” he said.

A quality machine, he said, typically starts at around $700.

Wegiel normally employs two technicians. They work 8 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and often on Saturday during the summer, which is his busiest time. “The summer is hard on appliances,” he said.

But Wegiel was down to only one technician when we spoke to him this week, which meant he will be repairing a lot of appliances until he can hire a new technician.

“I don’t mind fixing appliances, but that’s not really what I wanted to do when I started this,” he said. “My goal was to run a business.”

He feels he is on track, however, growing his business a little at a time.

“It’s a challenge to grow a business,” he said. But with patience and hard work, he is confident he will succeed.


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