Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/7/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – Connie Wiezebicki is sad to see his store, Acres Power Equipment, shut down after 53 years in business.
“It’s not the customers. It’s not the employees,” he said. “The country’s in trouble. It’s the economy. We can’t get products. We can’t get parts.”
Acres Power Equipment opened its doors in 1969 and has sold and serviced major brands of lawn and garden equipment. The business serves about 2,500 customers each year. From selling new lawnmowers to repairing old snowblowers, Acres Power Equipment has been a trusted resource in East Longmeadow.
Recently, however, the economic downturn and supply chain disruptions that came in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Wiezebicki’s business. “I’ll sell a $9 bearing that cost me $18 to get in,” Wiezebicki said. Staying open has become unsustainable.
Acres Power Equipment employed 10 to 15 people before the pandemic. Now, there are five employees left, most of whom have worked for Wiezebicki for decades.
“They’ve just been fantastic. They know what’s happening and they’re here with me through it.” Of the workers he has lost, Wiezebicki said, “We just can’t match some of the wages being advertised.”
Acres Power Equipment will stop taking repair orders a couple of weeks before the store closes on April 30. Wiezebicki said he wants to be able to finish the repair jobs he already has, which greatly depends on the business’s ability to get parts.
“We’re not different than a lot of other businesses that can’t get product in,” Wiezebicki said, adding that equipment distributors are “in the same boat.” He believes many businesses will be closing in the next year for the same reasons Acres Power Equipment cannot continue operating.
Many lifelong customers have expressed shock at the closure, he said. “The town has been beautiful to us. We’re going to miss that.”
Wiezebicki said people have asked him about his retirement plans. “I got my dog and my cat, and my house needs painting,” he said with a chuckle.
Acres Power Equipment is for sale and Wiezebicki said he prays someone will buy it, but now, the business is set to close at the end of April.
“I’m 84 years old. It’s time for retirement,” Wiezebicki said. “The fun’s gone.”