FARMINGTON — Owners of the local business landmark Lynn-Hom Electronics RadioShack store plan to close their doors by mid-February.

The wireless phone portion of the business, Lynn-Hom Cellular Electronics, a Verizon wireless authorized retailer, will remain open at 473 Wilton Road.

Owners Linda Walter, 65, of Readfield and Homer Ambrose, 61, of Jay have decided after 38 years that the time has come to spend more time with family and work fewer hours.

“We tried to make it through after RadioShack filed bankruptcy last February,” Ambrose said. “The economy has changed.”

Online shopping has taken over and it’s hard for a small store to compete with the large box stores, Walter said.

“Young people shop differently than older customers,” she said of growing online purchases.

Local older people are usually the loyal customers seeking service, while younger generations live in a throw-away society, she said.

The brother and sister started working for their father, Philip O’Brion, after he opened O’Brions Electronics in East Wilton in 1977. The business was transferred to them in 1998.

Ambrose was on the road most of the time with sales and service during those first years. The store employed three service people at the time, he said. Today, the service work doesn’t even keep him busy, he said.

The inventory has changed over the years from television sales and service to appliances, stereo systems and electronic accessories, he said.

They became an authorized Verizon retail franchise in 2009. Walter plans to continue working with the Verizon franchise, but with fewer hours.

Ambrose plans to find work elsewhere.

The owners tried selling the business without success. After Christmas, they chose to liquidate the inventory and close the doors, she said.

“We’ve been fighting (to stay open) for a while,” Ambrose said. “We’ve given up …  It gave our family a good life, and we’re thankful for the loyal customers through the years.”

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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