Jim Campbell retires

MILLERTON — The Campbell family name is well known in the Millerton business community.John Campbell Sr. first opened an appliance store in town in 1930. It’s 2011 now, and Campbell & Keeler, as it became, has been running strong for more than 80 years. Only a handful of area businesses (Terni’s, Saperstein’s, Valentine’s Funeral Home and Duxbury & Hermans come to mind) can compete with that kind of longevity.Well, that’s recently changed, at least in namesake, as March 1 marked the official retirement of Jim Campbell, 61, one of John’s two sons who has run the business. Campbell & Keeler Appliances is now simply Keeler Appliances.“Thirty-one years,” Campbell confirmed standing behind his desk for one of the last times during an interview with The Millerton News. “How does it feel? I’m not sure yet. It’s only been a couple of days!”Campbell said it’s been a good run, seeing the business move from location to location all over town, including having a showroom at Rudd Pond for many years. Jim Campbell bought the business in 1980 from his brother, John Jr., who had taken over the store from his father around 1960.In 1985, Campbell partnered with Gordon Keeler, who ran a competing appliance store in town, and in 1989 they built the building on the corner of Century Boulevard and Dutchess Avenue where Keeler Appliances is now located.“Millerton was always a good retail area,” Campbell said, while acknowledging the many changes that the village has been through in the past eight decades. “That’s why we moved operations right into the village in 1985.”Now that he’s retired, Campbell’s calendar is pretty open, he said, and there are definitely no plans to leave his home in Millerton. And while he may not have grand plans set in stone, he said there will be plenty to keep his days full around the village he knows so well. Being a businessman in Millerton for so long, Campbell said one of the biggest satisfactions he will take with him into retirement is knowing the number of local households using Campbell and Keeler appliances.“There are many, many, many, many,” he said. “You’ve got houses that have second and third generations of our appliances in them.”And for the last two-and-a-half decades, it’s been a successful business because of the partnership running the operation.“It’s always been the two of us,” Campbell said. “The business has been successful because of honesty, hard work and providing a good service.”Keeler Appliances remains located at 3 Century Blvd. in Millerton and may be reached at 518-789-4961.

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