Chenoweth Appliances Marks 50 Years of Local Service
Chenoweth Appliances is celebrating 50 years of selling quality products in the Louisville area. With a wide selection of refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, washers, dryers and dishwashers available, Chenoweth strives to build relationships with its customers and make everyone feel like family.
Wayne and Danny Lyons, Jr. co-own the business, taking over for their father, who started Chenoweth in 1975. The brothers aim to make every transaction a family affair while using their years of experience to help customers pick the best product that fits their needs.
“Guys who work for us have been here 15-20 years so they know what they’re talking about,” Wayne says. “All we sell are appliances. If you need to buy an appliance, you need to shop at an appliance store. It’s helpful to go with a company that has been in business for a while like we have.”
Dan Lyons, Sr. started Chenoweth after previously working at General Electric. Wanting to go into business for himself, Dan found a location for sale in the heart of Jeffersontown and started selling furniture alongside appliances. The name is homage to the former Chenoweth Park, now Charlie Vettiner Park, which is just a few miles from the store.
“My dad found this place in J-Town that was up for lease and he got the property,” Wayne says. “He then went back to G.E. and got a contract to sell the appliances. He wanted to work in business for himself. He got the G.E. contract and went off from there.”
Wayne was initially unsure about joining the family business but was eventually persuaded to do so, alongside his brother. He worked in variety of different roles, including marketing, delivering, installing and buying products.
“I graduated from (the University of Kentucky) in 1982 and started working here,” Wayne adds. “I told my dad what I really wanted to do was sell ice cream on the beach but there are no beaches here. I knew people would always need appliances so I took him up on it. He gave us an opportunity and we grabbed it. We know the name of the game is to treat people the way you want to be treated. If you do that, you’re going to do well.”
After the brothers became more involved, Chenoweth eventually got out of selling furniture and focused only on appliances.
“I didn’t want to sell furniture that wasn’t made here so we got strictly into appliances,” Wayne says. “We used to sell dining room suites, bedroom suites, chairs, all kinds of things. It made sense to focus on appliances.”
Wayne says the dynamic of working so closely with his brother isn’t a challenging one, and the two complement each other well.
“My brother is pretty easy,” he says. “He’s a year and a half older so we’ve been close our whole lives and have worked together since we were 13 or 14 delivering newspapers. We have a good relationship. He’s more of a conservative and I’m more liberal. He likes to save money and I like to spend it. We both want to take care of our customers so you have to buy quality to get the best price and pass it on. He has some children involved with the business we hope to leave it to.”
Chenoweth offers a large selection of different price points and sizes on all of its products, as it aims to have the right appliance for every customer. Some of the most trusted brands sold by Chenoweth include G.E., G.E. Café, G.E. Profile, G.E. Monogram, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, JennAir and Speed Queen Laundry. Chenoweth is part of the Nationwide Marketing Group, North America’s leading buying, marketing and operational support organization for independent retailers, which helps Chenoweth obtain quality products.
“We can buy our appliances cheaper from the manufacture and we pass that on to our customers,” Wayne says. “People don’t realize what kind of buying power we have. Once people realize we’re competitive with the box stores and we take care of them, they come back to us.”
Chenoweth has always strived to have excellent customer service, and offers delivery, installation and haul away, with nothing outsourced. Oftentimes, customers don’t even need to come directly in the store to make a purchase, and products can usually be delivered the next day, or sooner. Wayne says he will help customers who buy from him reach out to manufactures about various warranties they are covered by.
“We’ve had a lot of competitors over the years and a lot of them have gone out of business because of bad management and taking advantage of people,” Wayne says. “When people have a bad experience, they’re going to tell other people and word spreads. The reason we are here is because we treat every customer who walk into the door like they are the boss. We’ve become friends with people and they keep coming back because they trust us. The reason we’re here is because of trust and the relationships we’ve built.”
Through five decades, Chenoweth has become a staple of the J-Town community. Located on 10312 Taylorsville Road, the Lyons have seen their business grow as the area around it has as well.
“It’s safe here,” Wayne says. “The city looks nice and they keep the streets clean and paved. It’s a nice community to live in.”
Wayne says a big goal for the business moving forward it to create the next generation of customers and attract a younger age into his business.
“The average age of someone in our store is between 50-85,” Wayne says. “I’d like to appeal more to 25–40-year-olds. That way when they find out how trustworthy we are, they’ll buy from us until they are 85 too. Younger people want to go to the internet to buy appliances. They assume the big brands have the buying power. We get a lot of referrals from older clients telling younger people to come to us and not on the internet. They are really surprised by our prices.”
While nearing retirement age, Wayne plans to continue having a presence at Chenoweth for a long time.
“I don’t ever plan to retire,” Wayne says. “I have a lot of good sales people who work for me and they take care of my customers like I would, and I’d like to take off 4-5 weeks a year. Other than that, I want to keep working. I like my job and my customers. If I retire, I wouldn’t see a lot of people I’ve known for decades.”
Chenoweth is open six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, visit them online at chenowethappliances.com or call 502-267-8571.
