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EastsideNews
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Goodman Community Center
March l April 2015
photos: Erin Presley
E a s t s i d e business
A small box in a big box world
Birrenkott Appliances survives by stressing service By Pamela Wiesen, Eastside News Photo: Pamela Wiesen
Vern Birrenkott, owner of Birrenkott Appliances on the corner of Atwood and Fair Oaks avenues, has run his appliance business for 53 years, 43 in the current location, just down the block from where he grew up. Birrenkott, who sells General Electric and Hotpoint appliances, also provides delivery and service. The appliance business has changed over the many decades since Birrenkott started his own company, but he continues to stick to basics. His product niche is in the workhorses of the appliance sector, and he steers clear of Vern Birrenkott has sold GE appliances for 53 years. higher-end, electronics-heavy merchandise. Although he no longer advertises, he While the refrigerators, stoves and keeps an album containing advertisements washer/dryers on the floor are up-to-date, and photos from earlier shop days. His colthe business maintains an old-time feel. lection includes full-page newspaper clipBirrenkott has some vintage appliances pings with pictures of him and former parton display in the large windows facing the ner Ken Snell, with whom he started the busy intersection, and now boasts a retro business, looking very much like gentle1960 bottom-freezer refrigerator, commen from the “Mad Men” era. plete with ice-blue swing-out shelves. This East side history buffs would enjoy pagwould look right at home in many transiing through Birrenkott’s memorabilia and tional-style neighborhood kitchens. being transported back to an earlier AtOrders and paperwork are handwritten, wood Avenue — even then a bustling retail not computerized. Service is what’s empha- and commercial corridor. sized here. While Birrenkott deals mostly Birrenkott reminisced about the stores with management companies with large and services available on Atwood Avenue appliance orders for apartment and condos, and Schenk’s Corners in his youth and durhe’s also available for retail customer oring the early days of the shop. A student at ders, questions and repairs. both St. Bernard’s and Lowell elementary Birrenkott said he enjoys all parts of the schools, he remembers well his mother business equally, and that he has no plans walking the length of Atwood Avenue and to retire. He has part-time help, including being able to shop for all the items she occasional assistance from one of his five needed. sons, but he is the only full-timer on the Within walking distance were food payroll. markets, taverns, a hardware store and a Rennebohm Drugstore where Birrenkott would go to use the pay phone to make calls to his girlfriend (now his wife). The building housing the store, which he owns, once contained a hotel. Apartments remain there to this day. Birrenkott Appliances, located at 2926 Atwood Ave., is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. l
A green (house) space on Willy Street By Erin Presley, Eastside News
Willy Street shoppers taking a moment to peer into the brightly lit windows of the Madison Greenhouse Store, 1354 Williamson St., are in for a sunny treat, even on the dreariest of March days. Blooming plants are displayed in the windows and on a large wooden potting bench in the middle of the store. Garden supplies line the shelves, and gleaming watering cans are neatly displayed near colorful gloves and hand tools. Planters and trays wait to be filled with potting soil, fertilizer and seeds. Two small greenhouses occupy the rear of the store. The Greenhouse Store’s experts can help customers design and build a greenhouse of any size, from small backyard structures to larger commercial or educational facilities. Co-owner Jordan Hosking has been constructing greenhouses throughout the nation for 10 years. Before opening the store, he often missed Madison while on the road. He wondered if Madison gardeners would be interested in greenhouses of their own. Backyard greenhouses come in many designs adaptable to city lots. They can be free-standing or attached to one’s home, and made of glass or polycarbonate. An unheated greenhouse can extend the growing season for cool-weather vegetables, like lettuce or spinach, for several months in early spring and late fall. In a heated greenhouse, a variety of vegetables can be grown year-round. When he opened the store in 2013, Hosking partnered with Madisonian Sheila Haskins who runs the retail end of the business to provide the infrastructure and sup-
The original Snell and Birrenkott’s appliance store at 1521 Williamson St., around the time of its grand opening in 1961.
Potted plants are on display throughout the store.
plies homeowners need to grow more of their own food. The Store specializes in organic and hard-to-find gardening supplies like seeds, soil, fertilizers and soil amendments. These high-quality supplies, Haskins and Hosking believe, contribute to the foundation for good health. “Locally we still see grow-your-ownfood as the trend that will define the next 20 years,” Hosking said. By providing resources for home gardeners, they believe that farm to table can become backyard to table more regularly. The co-owners selected bustling Williamson Street, with its diversity of ecofriendly and independent businesses, as the home for their new business in 2013. “Willy Street seemed like the perfect place to start. It’s a place that gets a lot of attention without having to blow your budget on advertising,” Hosking said. “We are so proud to have been a part of the Willy Street community for two and now on to three years. We see our future as very promising.” Haskins attributes their ongoing success to actively responding to their community. “We have followed the voices of our customers. If they buy it, then we will keep carrying it. If they don’t like it, we move on from it.” In addition to outdoor growing supplies, the store sells blooming and foliage houseplants. Bulk potting soil and planters are available for re-potting plants purchased at the store or brought from home. Another popular feature is the do-ityourself terrarium station. I watched as Haskins helped a young boy, Gavin, create his own terrarium. First, Gavin selected a fishbowl-like container which they planted with potting soil and moss. Then, Haskins produced a tray of small plastic animal figurines. Gavin then chose a miniature dragon and perched it on a shard of black glass and nestled it into the moss at the back of the terrarium. His tiny scene was now complete. Madison Greenhouse Store is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. l
Community Justice Inc.
Providing affordable legal services in Southern Wisconsin. Intake Hours: 1-4 pm, Mon.-Thurs. at 608-204-9642. www.communityjusticeinc.org