Iconic repair shop calls it quits

Portrait of Paul and Marlene Page on the last day of business of their store, Mart's Small Appliance Service on E. Valley Parkway in Escondido. The place has been in business since 1961.

ESCONDIDO Its the kind of shop that just doesnt exist anymore.

Marts Appliance Service, an iconic Escondido repair shop, shut its door last week once and for all.

The business had operated at its East Valley Parkway location since 1975, but owners Paul and Marlene Page announced last year that they wanted to retire, after a lifetime of repairing vacuums and lawn mowers, coffee makers, blenders and lamps.

They had hoped to find someone to take over the shop, but that didnt happen. Nowadays, with small appliances being so inexpensive, people tend to pitch a broken toaster rather than repair it.

Mart's has closed -- end of an era Charlie Neuman

The store closed for good Wednesday.

They could fix anything, said longtime neighbor and customer Stan Weinberg, a family doctor whose office for decades was located a couple doors down from Marts. Its an end of an era, but we all get old.

Paul Pages connection to the store actually goes back to 1964, when as a young man he was looking for a part-time job and was referred by the unemployment office to a business on Grand Avenue. He walked into Marts then owned Martin Gehring by mistake and got hired.

A final couple blenders await repair Charlie Neuman

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Iconic repair shop calls it quits