Interview with Dustin Wachsmuth, president
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: My father started at All Ray’s Vacuum in 1972 and was really good friends with Ed Geurin, who owned Custom Vac and Sound. Unfortunately, Ed ended up getting very sick and needed to sell his business to someone. He told me that he knew since I took such good care of my father’s customers that he trusted me to take care of his. We were already in the vacuum business and, although he had been a competitor for years, my father and he would go have lunch together and always got along great. He sold me the business for a fraction of what it was worth, just so that it could stay in the “family,” as he would say. We miss Ed a lot and his influence helped shape who I am today.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Most people in this line of work carry only one brand and work out of their garages. Although there is nothing wrong with working out of your garage, when there have been recessions and nobody is building new homes, a lot of these companies disappear. This store’s location has been a vacuum store since 1964 so you’ll always be able to find us and we won’t disappear on you. Since it’s been family owned for so long, often times my father’s customers knew me since I was 5 and first started coming into the store. Also, the fact that we have more than one brand gives customers more of a choice for their certain needs.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: The family business side, actually getting to take care of customers one-on-one and not having to deal with anyone above me to go that extra mile. I remember when I was younger my father made a big deal about customer service, but I thought that the way he took care of customers was the way everyone did it. I still remember the first time going shopping by myself at a big box store and not being able to find anyone to help me for 20 minutes. When I finally did, they didn’t know anything about the product I was looking for. I realized then that the customer service he always preached was much different than most people get in their everyday lives.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: Our biggest challenge is that a lot of people do not know about central (in-house) vacuums. If they do know about them, they often think they will be too expensive or that you can’t put them into an already-built home (retro fit). Our job is to educate people and let them know that we can put a central vacuum into 99 percent of homes out there.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: Central vacuums can help allergy symptoms up to 61 percent according to one of the latest studies by University of California at Davis School of Medicine.
Profile
Business: Custom Vac and Sound
Address: 3740 S. Broadway, Englewood
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
Founded: 1969
Contact: 303-781-7448,
Employees: 4
