Tom Bock selected to advisory board of Nationwide West Marketing Group

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Washers, dryers, electronics or garage doors.

Tom Bock has seen a lot in his 40-plus years in Charles City.

VCR’s have come and gone. So have box TV’s.

But Bock and his store downtown — TJ Service and Charles City Electronics — have been constant throughout those changes.

Bock was awarded for his years of excellent service and product expertise recently as he was selected to the advisory board of the Nationwide West Marketing Group, the western division of North America’s largest marketing and buying group.

Bock is one of only 11 advisors selected in the region. He was elected in February and will be on the board for three years, a position that he started last week. Board members are chosen by regional managers, who visit various stores throughout the area.

“It’s definitely an honor that the fellow independent retailers have bestowed upon me to work for the benefit of all of us,” said Bock.

Bock will have his first conference call this Thursday, in which his volunteered input can help manufacturers and everyone within the group.

He mentioned that one big change his business and others across the world have had to adapt to is how each store markets, promotes and advertises its products and services. That’s one of the various topics he will discuss via the teleconference call this week.

Nationwide Marketing Group has 5,300 members, operating approximately 14,000 independent storefronts with sales around $18.5 billion.

Bock runs and operates his store alongside his wife Julie, who takes care of customers’ cellphone needs, among other things.

Bock’s business originated in his garage in 1976. He moved to a store downtown in 1987 and set up shop in his current location in 1995. He said he is thankful that his business has been able to be successful through five different decades.

“It’s important that people have local businesses and they support their local businesses,” said Bock. “We’ve been fortunate we’ve been supported by the local community.”

Major developments have occurred since the ’70s and Bock said government regulations on products he sells is one of them.

Two other big changes have also occurred — one being the bankruptcy of Radio Shack, which at one point according to Bock had 7,000 stores. After a second bankruptcy, the store only operates 72 company-owned stores as of June 2017.

The mass exodus and closure of thousands of stores didn’t affect Bock, other than the amount of items that he still sells from Radio Shack, as he is franchised with the company.

Another landmark moment was Whirlpool Corp. buying out Maytag — the two behemoths of the appliance industry joining forces in 2006.

But as much that has changed in the world over the past 41 years, a lot has also stayed the same.

Customers can still get their bikes fixed at Bock’s store and he also has several new bikes that are for sale as well. He started selling barbecue grills in the mid-’90s and his company also sells garage doors and openers.

Electronics are still a big part of Bock’s business, and that technology has made its way to virtually every appliance Bock sells.

“Appliances have electronics all over them, where they never used to have any electronics on them,” said Bock.  

How has Bock himself changed over the years?

“I got old,” said Bock, with a smile.