T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The staff and management of Appliance Doctor poses for a photo at their new headquarters — 3102 S. 6th St. — on Wednesday morning. The longstanding Marshalltown business is also under new ownership with Jeff and Laura Rasmussen taking the reins from Lon Malone.

A Marshalltown business known for its friendly staff fixing and selling refrigerators, washers, dryers and more has officially moved to a new building on the southwest side of town — one with plenty of nostalgic value for longtime residents of the community.

Appliance Doctor, formerly located on South 8th Avenue near MARSHALLTOWN Company’s headquarters, has settled in at 3102 S. 6th St., the former home of Skatetown, and it is also under new management with Jeff and Laura Rasmussen taking the reins from longtime owner Lon Malone. Jeff Rasmussen is a CPA who runs Rasmussen Accounting, and his wife said he has always had a passion for helping small businesses — thus, taking one over seemed like a natural fit.

During an interview on Wednesday, Laura Rasmussen, a former nurse by trade, said she was aware of the uncertainty surrounding Appliance Doctor’s future in light of MARSHALLTOWN’s expansion project and the company’s need to acquire the property on South 8th Avenue, and although she and Jeff didn’t have any background in fixing appliances themselves, they decided it was the right time with their four kids, who were previously homeschooled, either dual-enrolled, at Marshalltown schools full-time or in college.

“It kind of left an opportunity to say we have more time to do this. Our oldest child, Grace, will be back in December. She graduates from college, and she has a business degree. So she was excited about this as well,” Laura said.

The family officially took over Appliance Doctor near the end of June, and Caleb Rasmussen, who will be a senior at MHS this year, is also helping out with the business side of the operation. Laura also discussed the search for a new headquarters, which eventually led them to renting the former Skatetown building as the old rink has been closed for nearly 20 years.

“We kind of looked into some (options), and a lot were a little bit further out of the way than what we would’ve liked. We kind of wanted a location that was more visible than it had been previously,” she said. “So we kind of drove around, and we looked. And we knew the owner of this, Skatetown, and just said ‘Hey, would that be something you would rent out?’ And he’s like ‘I think we could make that work.’ So we talked about it, and we’re very thankful to get this location because that was one of our other challenges of saying ‘Hey, we’ll go ahead with purchasing the business.’ So we’re excited about the location. We think it’s a great spot as far as visibility.”

She also praised the building owner for redoing the ceilings and floors and ensuring that the space was “move-in ready” when it was time to relocate on a tight deadline. Rasmussen was grateful that the existing staff was willing to stay onboard and helped to lead a smooth transition over the last few months.

“They like what they do. They want to continue that, and they’re really good at it. When I totaled up the number of years with the staff that we have, the six employees, it was about 50 years of experience,” she said. “And they are just phenomenal at what they do, and I don’t think I could’ve hired six people that would have been better. So I’m really thrilled.”

Since the kids were young, Laura said the entire family has felt strongly about the need to support local small businesses, even watching documentaries on economics and finance together. So naturally, they can’t wait to put all the knowledge they’ve gained to good use right here in Marshalltown.

“Everybody was just kind of excited about it. My daughter’s getting a business degree. Caleb plans to go into business. (Grace is) graduating in December, and then she’ll plan to come back and help at the two businesses,” Laura said.

Appliance Doctor can be reached at (641) 752-2313.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.