The store, located at 701 N. Mission St., is owned by Sandy Halasz, a Central Michigan University graduate. She started the business in 1984 as a video rental, but it quickly expanded into entertainment and electronics.

Each section of Main Street Audio/Video has its own purpose. There is a room dedicated entirely with all car audio systems. CDs and DVDs line the walls, stacked neatly in order of genre. Home audio and televisions are lined up in the showroom.

Manager Scott Wager has been with Main Street Audio/Video for more than 20 years. Wager said the staff enjoy creating the relationships they have with their customers and community.

Central Michigan Life spoke with Wager to learn more about the business and how it serves the needs of the community.

CM Life: What kind of services do you provide to the community?

Wager: We're a full service electronic store. We provide home and car stereos and televisions, new and used.

We also do a lot of service and transfer work — transferring what is on VHS to DVD or 8mm tape to DVD. People will come in with older tapes and film and need it put on to a (more modern) format, whether it be DVDs or USB drives. We also do a lot of repair work on televisions and stereo equipment.

Josh Barnhart | Visual Editor

Sales associate John Wappelhorst, right, is originally from Wisconsin. He moved to Michigan in 2005 and has been working at Main Street Audio/Video for over five years, April 14 at 701 North Mission St.

We do in-home visits in terms of setting up stereo equipment and home theatre systems. Someone might buy some equipment from us and they need help setting it up so we send one of our technicians out to help set up or they might already have equipment that they might be having problems with, then our guy would troubleshoot the situation and get everything back up and running for them.

We buy and sell record albums, DVDs and CDs, so in addition to the new equipment we sell, we still work with older technologies that people still have a desire for.

We (also) work with small businesses to set up equipment.

How long have you been in business?

We have been providing customer friendly business since 1984. We initially began as a video rental store, but continued to add product lines and services to become what we are today.

What inspired the owner to open shop?

(Halasz) was interested in electronics and entertainment early in her life, so she decided to begin her own company. Her store has been located here in Mount Pleasant since 1991.

How many people do you employ?

We currently employ five people. We have two technicians — one is primarily our repair technician and the other is our home visit technician: the installer. Then we have the three of us who have been here for more than 20 years together. We are not currently looking for more employees.

How would you describe the atmosphere in your store?

(The store has) a very personal hometown atmosphere. We have had the same primary staff for more than 20 years, so our goal is to be helpful, personable and kind.

How has business been going in the last year or so?

Good — we do such a variety of things, we always have something that is keeping us busy. When the weather gets warmer, we will start getting busy with car stereos. In fall and winter we get into more televisions and home stereo.

What kind of reactions have you received form the community?

It's been positive — we've been here in Mount Pleasant for more than 30 years. I think people appreciate having a store like ours in town because we offer an alternative to a lot of the big box store experiences.

We have a lot of repeat business and word of mouth business, so I think that indicates a positive relationship with the Mount Pleasant and surrounding community.

Do you have any big plans for the future?

Just to continue what we've been doing for more than 30 years now.

Shop Talk: Main Street Audio/Video provides electronics, repairs and installations

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