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St. Elizabeth TV & Appliance opened for business October 1955 by Victor A Wilde Sr. Located across from St. Lawrence church, business hours were 6pm to 9pm. Several small radios and three black & white Motorola televisions were the first items available for sale. The price of those televisions ranged $89 to $459. Victor Sr. increased their product line by adding appliances in the fall of 1956. In 1958 a salesman from Jefferson City approached him about buying and selling their furniture. After further research, Victor and wife La Verne purchased the furniture. Their first open house resulted in 5 sales of the same living room suite, identical in color and style as well. In 1959, they purchased the land that St. Elizabeth TV & Appliance currently resides on. At this point, the hours of operation changed store to 8:00am to 6:00pm daily and open late on Friday nights.
In April 1974 Victor Sr. became ill and passed away. He was and still is deeply missed by the family. At that time La Verne, still caring for her 9 children, managed to raise a family and run the business. Her sons Charlie & Victor Jr. took on their roles determined to succeed. Family members Michael Wilde and Janet Wilde Lueckenhoff also joined the business, opening another location in Freeburg.
Freeburg Home Center opened its doors October 1987. St. Elizabeth TV & Appliance and Freeburg Home Center, family owned and operated since 1955, currently employs 3 generations of the Wilde family. Charlie Wilde's son Shannon Wilde, joined the business in October of 1985. Shannon is Director of satellite installs. Victor Wilde’s daughter Megan Wilde Wright joined the business in July 2004 as Office Manager in St. Elizabeth. Victor's son Justin Wilde joined the business in June 2006 and works alongside Charlie as a Flooring Installation Specialist. Mike Wilde presides as President of Freeburg Home Center. His sister, Janet Lueckenhoff, and Becky Nelson of Freeburg, also work for the business. Freeburg Home Center, Inc. moved to its current location on Highway 63 in December 1999. After an addition in October 2004, it now spans more than 16,000 square feet. Currently the two stores employ eight full time employees and offer a wide variety of furniture, flooring, appliances, Dish Network, mattress sets, and window treatments.
La Verne, Charlie, Victor, Mike, Janet, Becky, Shannon, Megan, Justin, and Felicia would like to thank all of their customers for their business.
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