After 40 years of serving the people of Baker City, Charlie and Linda Rich, owners of the Western Auto appliance store, have decided to retire.

Charlie and Linda opened the store in the spring of 1977. It was originally located at 2108 Main St., in the building now occupied by The Sycamore Tree.

“When I met Charlie he always wanted to open up his own business,” Linda said. “We had the option of either opening up a new store here in Baker, or taking over one in Ontario.”

After spending one day in Baker, the Riches decided to buy a house here and open the store because it seemed to make more sense to start out fresh.

And from there began four decades of serving the people of Baker, whether that meant selling, fixing or ordering appliances — or even just sitting down and having a chat with customers.

“We had many people come in who had no interest in buying something,” Linda said. “They just wanted to come in and talk about everything from politics or just what was happening in town.”

The store has moved a few times since the Riches arrived. Nine years after they opened the store, they moved south on Main to 1912 (next to the current site of Delicioso restaurant).

In 2002 the couple moved the store to its current location at 2015 Main St.

Though they were a part of the Western Auto franchise, the Riches said they were given a lot of leeway in how they operated their store. For instance, having Sunday off was important to them, so they closed up shop that day.

That freedom didn’t come without sacrifice, though.

“We didn’t get wealthy from owning the store,” Linda said. “But we could support ourselves, keep a roof over our heads, feed our children, and most importantly teach them how to work.”

“In all the time we ran the store, we only took two vacations,” Charlie said. “I worked six days a week for 44 years — even before we opened the store.”

See more in the June 30, 2017, issue of the Baker City Herald.