It is becoming rare to find a store like Asef's Appliance in Santa Rosa, CA. I wrote a story tonight that describes a recent experience I had there. I chose specifically to shop at this one of a kind store rather than at one of the big box stores or malls.
In this place I call home, I have been gradually making improvements. They are really just changes, but in their newness, they feel better to me. The new lampshade is an example. I tried taping the old one back together when it began to fall apart a few months ago. Then I covered it with a nice sarong and that improvement satisfied me for a while. Still, I had this itch to replace it with something nicer. A friend suggested I junk the whole lamp. It works fine however and so I was reluctant to throw it away or even move it to the garage. I had the bright idea to paint it and make it a work of art. I haven’t gotten around to that but I finally did get around to buying a new lampshade. On Saturday I decided to shop locally and avoid the chain stores. So I ended up inside Asef’s Appliance on 4th Street. It is a wonderful shop crowded with shelves up to the top of the high ceiling. Asef sells replacement parts for all kinds of appliances and the shelves are full of coffee pots, switches, bolts and belts, some of which are coated with a layer of dust that speaks of just how esoteric they are. The aisles are narrow and boxes have to be moved to allow one access to some corners. The highest shelves, and we are talking about shelves 12 to 20 feet above the floor, are filled with lampshades, all shapes and sizes. I came in through the back door, along the narrow dim hallway lined with old sewing machines on the floor. I get dizzy easily when I look up, so I just told Asef what I was looking for. I brought in the old shade to check the size. Something not white and with a natural looking pattern. He picked up a pole with a hook on the end that was hanging on the wall. I had not even noticed it before. Hoisting it up into the air, he maneuvered the hook underneath a nest of about 8 pale brown lampshades. He brought them all down and plopped them on the floor. They were different sizes but all the same paper fabric. I liked it. We compared it with my old one and I chose one. Then I asked him for the price. It was more than I had hoped to pay, but this was infinitely easier than shopping in every secondhand store in town for something that would do. Then I told Asef that I also wanted a carpet sweeper, something that did not make that awful noise that the vacuum cleaner makes. He stepped around the pile of lampshades and began to show me what he had. I thought it was interesting that he didn’t put the unpurchased lampshades back on the shelf, especially given how little space there is to move in the store. Anyway, he had a number of sweepers, each of which, according to him, was a very good choice. I picked one that had a battery assist and we returned to the counter. The high glass counter is crowded with all manner of devices to use with keys. Lamps and electric coffeepots that have been repaired sit haphazardly on top leaving almost no room for him to set down my purchases. I also noticed a number of vacuum cleaners sitting nearby and a few more sewing machines, all marked with manila tags detailing the names of their owners, a date and the cost of the repair. I asked him if they buy old vacuum cleaners and he told me to bring it in. On Sunday I discovered that the sweeper I bought is for bare floors, so today I took it back and took in my old Kirby. I exchanged the one I bought for a simpler model that works on carpets. He bought the Kirby for $40, not much, but I am so relieved to be done with it. It worked great but was loud and very heavy. Now, all I have is this tiny manual carpet sweeper that requires a bit of elbow grease but actually works quite well and makes virtually no noise. It also takes up a great deal less space in my coat closet.
Not surprisingly, Asef's does not have a website. I found a listing for them however.
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