At AllTech Electronics, there’s a little something for everyone.
From guitars, amps and stereo systems to both retro and newer video game systems and televisions, to collectables such as comics, old wrestling VHS tapes and sci-fi action figures, the store has a wide variety of both new and refurbished items.
On top of all of that, AllTech offers refurbished laptops and PCs along with PC and electronic repair services.
Originally, it was located in the Yard Birds shopping mall, but is now located at 1610 S. Gold St. in Centralia, at the site of the former Fitscape Health Club.
It all started in 2014 as a weekend side gig for Bill Haddox to be able to work with his son, Jeremy. Bill was working for Intel at the time and wanted to spend more time with Jeremy.
“We were primarily buying and refurbishing computers and selling them to begin with,” Bill said. “He’s a gamer, so we started adding some PC games for sale. After a few months of just doing that on weekends, we started expanding into game consoles, monitors and audio equipment.”
After about half a year, the store’s inventory and selection had exploded to include collectables and clothing.
Then, at the end of August 2022, the power at the mall was cut. Eviction notices were posted on the doors and windows of Yard Birds about two months later.
According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, a failed Washington state Labor & Industries inspection and unpaid electric bills exceeding $100,000 led to the Lewis County Public Utility District cutting the power to the mall last year.
“When the whole debacle at Yard Birds took place, we were slightly over a year into a five-year lease,” Bill said.
That left Bill and Jeremy in a bind as they, like all of the other business owners leasing space in Yard Birds, scrambled to move their inventory and equipment into storage. Together with Jeremy and one other employee, Matt Peterson, they were able to save some inventory.
It ended up being stored in four separate storage units, including one in Napavine.
To make matters worse, when they went to pull inventory from Yard Birds, they had been locked out of the mall due to the power being out for almost three months. During this time, rain leaked into the building, ruining both inventory and equipment, they said.
From tens of thousands of dollars worth of PC parts to full PCs and televisions and their soldering station, rust ruined it all.
“At last count, we’ve lost 40 monitors, 30 flatscreen TVs, about 40 or 50 laptops, another 40 PCs, have all been scrapped, not to include what’s still at Yard Birds,” Bill said.
“The soldering station, it didn’t get rained on or anything, it was literally just the humidity that ruined it,” Jeremy added.
Some equipment has been stolen as well, including Jeremy’s personal bitcoin mining rig worth approximately $20,000.
“Jeremy kind of did that on the side. We were never allowed in to see that stuff and they just tell us it’s gone” Bill said. “We have no idea where it went.”
Also lost were vintage stereos, speaker sets, 12 musical keyboards and hundreds of video games. Bill estimated in total, with moving expenses and storage costs, they’ve lost around $175,000.
Despite the losses, both Bill and Jeremy are thankful to have AllTech open again, especially considering what other business owners in Yard Birds went through.
One older couple who were running a thrift store were forced to abandon all of their inventory and move out of state. Another woman running a convenience store in the mall had actually just taken out loans to purchase brand new refrigerators and freezers.
According to Jeremy, once the power was cut at Yard Birds, the food inside rotted and leaked into the inner workings of the new refrigerators and freezers, ruining it all.
“A lot of these people, they lost everything,” Jeremy added.
Bill’s daughter, Erica Lewis, was also a business owner in Yard Birds and just reopened her own store, The Squirrel Hut Boutique.
Though their sales have taken a hit since reopening in April on South Gold Street, they are slowly recovering.
“Last month was the first month where we had sales like before,” Jeremy said.
Bill added the atmosphere in the store is always a friendly one, leading to many repeat customers.
“It’s kind of an unusual store, in that our customers kind of become our friends,” Bill said.
AllTech even has a lounge area, complete with multiple televisions and game consoles set up for customers to try games out or even just hang out. The store also sells snacks and drinks, and Bill is planning on getting a popcorn machine.
“We’ll have groups of people come and have horror VHS movie nights and game nights,” Bill added.
Even many of their old customers from Yard Birds are returning, though some have still yet to find out where they are located, Bill added.
The business is at 1610 S. Gold St. in Centralia. AllTech Electronics is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call 360-557-3968 or visit AllTech’s Facebook page at https://bit.ly/40tXCpd.
