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MASCOUTAH — In almost every town of a certain size, there is a store where you can buy almost anything. More and more, it’s a Walmart. But not here.
Here they have Sax’s, a 50-by-75-foot annex of a gas station convenience store that’s equal parts Radio Shack, Apple Store, Best Buy and Cabela’s, plus everything you need to repair a bike or a lawnmower. “You could get everything, local,” said longtime customer Doug Schuler, 73.
At least, you could have. On Saturday, Sax’s closed its doors. Co-owner Tom Sax is retiring, and twin brother Tony Sax isn’t far off. The gas station and convenience store will remain open. But after 48 years, they say they’ve taken the retail business about as far as it’ll go.
Stores like theirs have been dying off for years, along with their clientele. First it was big box stores like Walmarts and Targets. Now it’s kids these days, including theirs, buying most of their stuff off Amazon. They’ve survived by honing niches like cellphone repair and lawnmower service, offering rock-bottom prices on high-end products — and very long hours.
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“We did not want our kids doing this,” said Tony Sax. “We work way too hard for what we earn.”
But they’ll be missed. As the final week reached its midpoint Wednesday afternoon, a slow parade of customers came in for a final browse. They called Sax’s a treasure, where they could find almost anything they needed, run into someone they knew and count the guy behind the counter as a friend.
“I’ve bought a lot of stuff here: batteries, bicycles, fishing stuff,” said Louis Sindel, a customer for more than 30 years. “I have no idea where I’m going to go.”
It all started with the Western Auto inside of a neighborhood market on Main Street. Dick and Margie Sax bought the place in 1974, thinking it would be good work for their two boys just graduating high school.
Tom and Tony split their time between the local community college, now called Southwestern Illinois College, and the store, where they learned to sell just about everything. Branches of Kansas City-based Western Auto belied the name, offering, among other things, Western Flyer bikes, televisions, furniture and guns in addition to car parts.
Sax’s eventually stopped selling firearms after a handful of robberies. “I don’t miss that,” Tom Sax said. But the wide selection became a permanent feature. In 1989, Sax’s added Radio Shack products to the mix, and sold its first batch of brick-style cellular phones.
Soon afterward, a woman drew a winning lottery ticket at the market, and the Saxes got to keep 1%, or $20,000. They gave employees a bonus, and built a lawnmower repair shop.
They always kept their eyes peeled for new ways to serve customers — a key to surviving as the new retail economy dawned. When the satellite TV kits came out and customers asked if there was someone who could do installations, Tony Sax told them he’d do it. When Western Auto went away at the turn of the century, Sax’s bought into the home appliance business. And as smartphones came to dominate sales, Tom Sax recognized another business in repairing them, hiring a string of high schoolers to help him. “You break it. We fix it,” he said. “New speakers, screens, batteries, charging ports — everything but the motherboard.”
And they spent hours setting up new phones and troubleshooting issues down the line, usually at no charge. One customer pulled up Wednesday unable to connect his phone to his car. Tom Sax went out and got it going, gratis. “They probably wouldn’t do that at the Verizon store,” he said.
Another survival tactic: They would not be undersold. Tom Sax would sell a $1,500 crossbow for $300 less than Cabela’s and an $800 dishwasher for $100 less than Lowe’s. Profit margins weren’t huge, but they were enough.
It’s not enough to pass on to the kids, though.
“Walk-in traffic’s nothing like it used to be, and our loyal customers are dying off,” said Tony Sax. “It’s the demise of retail society.”
And, just as Tony Sax hoped, the next generation has moved on. Tom has four kids: Not one of them is in retail. Tony’s son makes his living at a keyboard, reviewing software patent applications, working from home.
So it falls to the brothers to wind things down. They stopped working Sundays and cut off the lawn and garden business about a year ago. They’ve ceded the appliance business and the machine that issues hunting and fishing licenses to the Ace Hardware down the road.
Earlier this month, they started the closing sale, ratcheting up the discounts with each succeeding week. By Wednesday, everything was 50% off, and a lot of it was already gone.
But they still had a roll of the cable that Steve Hand, a retired federal employee, needed to set up the TV in his workshed. Mark Beer, a local dairy farmer, found the rolls of tape he needed. “They didn’t always have everything I needed,” Beer said, “but they had most of it.”
And when a customer asked for an 8-foot cable to plug into a VCR, Tom Sax found one, measured it out using the tiles on the floor, and rang it up. “Stop back,” he said, perhaps forgetting about the closing for a second.
Or maybe it was something else.
The store is closing, sure. And Tom Sax says he’s going to retire. But it’s not clear Mascoutah will let him. To ward off a panic, they’ve promised to keep repairing phones, when needed. Requests are already piling up.
“Once we close on Saturday, I’m going to Florida for three weeks,” he said.
“And then I’ll probably have 10,000 cellphones to work on.”
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last Radio Shacks in the area closes
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Dale Schlueter (left) shakes hands with Tony Sax after making some discounted purchases from the Mascoutah Radio Shack during their going out of business sale on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Schlueter was thanking Sax for the years of service his family has provided the community for operating the Radio Shack store, which is closing on Saturday. Sax is going keep working at the family’s other businesses which are going to remain open, but Tony’s twin brother Tom Sax is retiring when the Radio Shack closes. “I’ve known these guys for a long time. They’ve been fair to everyone in town. They’re good people” said Schlueter. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax (left) thumbs through an old Radio Shack catalog he put out for customers to see at the Mascoutah Radio Shack on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Sax is retiring on Saturday and the Radio Shack that he and his brother operate will be closing its doors for good when he retires. Sax’s twin brother Tony Sax is going to continue to work at the family’s other businesses in town. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax works up an estimate for a customer in front of a wall of family photos in his office at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack that Tom Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax (left) operate will close its doors for good on Saturday when Tom retires. Tony is going to keep working at the family’s other businesses in Mascoutah which are going to remain open. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Richard Scott shops for television cables and adaptors at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area and will be closing for good on Saturday. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Electronic connections hang on the shelves at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack that Tom Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax operate will close its doors for good on Saturday when Tom retires. Tony is going to keep working at the family’s other businesses in Mascoutah which are going to remain open. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Portable radios are laid out on a 40% off sale table at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack that Tom Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax operate will close its doors for good on Saturday when Tom retires. Tony is going to keep working at the family’s other businesses in Mascoutah which are going to remain open. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax (left) shows off a page out of an old Radio Shack catalog that brags of the over 5,900 stores nationwide on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Sax is retiring on Saturday and the Radio Shack that he and his brother operate will be closing its doors for good when he retires. The Mascoutah Radio Shack is one of the last ones in the area. Sax’s twin brother Tony Sax is going to continue to work at the family’s other businesses in town. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

An old Radio Shack Pro Logic decoder/amplifier has a discounted price of $29.99 slapped on to it at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack that Tom Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax operate will close its doors for good on Saturday when Tom retires. Tony is going to keep working at the family’s other businesses in Mascoutah which are going to remain open. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax (left) examines an ethernet cord that customer Louis Sindel brought in to the Mascoutah Radio Shack on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. “I’ve bought a lot of stuff from them” said Sindel who has been shopping at Sax’s stores for more than 30 years. Sax is retiring on Saturday and the Radio Shack that he and his brother operate will be closing its doors for good when he retires. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Electronic connections hang on the shelves at the Radio Shack in Mascoutah on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. The Radio Shack that Tom Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax operate will close its doors for good on Saturday when Tom retires. Tony is going to keep working at the family’s other businesses in Mascoutah which are going to remain open. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, as one of the last area Radio Shacks closes

Dale Schlueter (center) talks with Tom Sax in the Mascoutah Radio Shack on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Sax is retiring on Saturday and the Radio Shack that Sax and his twin brother operate will be closing its doors for good when he retires. “I’ve known these guys for a long time. They’ve been fair to everyone in town. They’re good people” said Schlueter. The Radio Shack in Mascoutah is one of the last remaining Radio Shacks in the area. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, one of the last Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax takes a last look around the store he and his twin brother owned in Mascoutah for 48 years as he prepares to walk out and lock the doors for his last time on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax owned the store that was a mix of a Radio Shack franchise, hardware store, cell phone shop, bike shop and appliance sales. Sax’s twin Tony Sax is going to continue working at the family’s other business in town but the store will be closed for good on Saturday at 5pm. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, one of the last Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax walks out of the store and he and his twin brother owned in Mascoutah for 48 years as he prepares to lock the doors for his last time on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax owned the store that was a mix of a Radio Shack franchise, hardware store, cell phone shop, bike shop and appliance sales. Sax’s twin Tony Sax is going to continue working at the family’s other business in town but the store will be closed for good on Saturday at 5pm. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
Retirement marks end of an era in Mascoutah, one of the last Radio Shacks closes

Tom Sax locks the doors for the last time on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022 on the store he and twin brother owned in Mascoutah for 48 years. Sax and his twin brother Tony Sax owned the store that was a mix of a Radio Shack franchise, hardware store, cell phone shop, bike shop and appliance sales. Sax’s twin Tony Sax is going to continue working at the family’s other business in town but the store will be closed for good on Saturday at 5pm. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/it-s-the-demise-of-retail-society-mascoutah-s-everything-store-bows-out/article_80699a4e-07c2-541a-91e2-9c36cd903ab6.html