1960s - Hanks Electric
Around 1960, Seldon and Ruby Hanks started Hanks Electric, an appliance business, in their home on Villa City Road.
Eventually, as the business became successful, they decided that their facilities at their home were not adequate for the increased business volume.
They purchased a two-story building in downtown Groveland on the Southeast corner of the intersection of State Road 50 (Broad Street) and State Road 19 (Lake Avenue). This building had previously been known as the Anderson Building and at one time was owned by Mr. Edge and was where he stored the coffins for his funeral home business.
In December the Hanks family began remodelling. Their youngest son, Jim, left college to help in the remodelling, plan-
ning, and operation of the store.
In February, 1965, the store was opened for business and more people came to help.
Their store had been selling the Hotpoint appliance line, and they now added the Zenith, DuMont, and Curtis-Mathes home entertainment lines. Seldon began phasing out the Stewart-Warner central air line and took on the Carrier and General Electric central air conditioning lines. The Hoover vacuum cleaner and small appliance line was also added.
When it first opened in 1966, Jim went to Lake-Sumter Junior College (now Lake-Sumter Community College), in nearby Leesburg, to study Pre-Engineering for one year and entered their Electrical Engineering Technology program.
From 1966 to 1971, business volume increased and more employees were hired, all the electronics entertainment lines were phased out, and the Carrier central air line was phased out even though the electronics and Carrier were good sellers.
Seldon recognized performance and service superiority in the General Electric line and chased to market the product he had more faith in. While Jim was still with Hanks Electric, they took on the Kitchen Aid and Corning appliance franchises.
In 1968, Jim joined the Navy and the electronics lines were phased out, because that was his pet project and neither Seldon nor Ruby showed much interest in them.
Jim would later return to the family business. He continued to grow the business beyond what the building could contain, so he moved the business to Downtown Clermont. He continued the business, along with his daughter Julie Hanks, until his death.
While the family decided to close the business, Julie, along with her husband, continue the tradition and operate a local appliance repair business.
[Contributors: Jason Brown]