After 45 years in business in Needham selling and repairing televisions, Dave Oberman closed his Chromasonic TV at the end of November. He said that the decision not to renew his lease on Chestnut Street was a difficult one.
“Repairing TVs has been my life since I was 13 years old,” he said.
When he started learning to repair televisions in 1962, “The Beverly Hillbillies” was the nation’s top-ranking show. When he opened shop in Needham in 1979 after living and working in Mattapan and Dorchester, the top-ranking shows were “60 Minutes” and “Three’s Company.”
“We went from fixing tube TVs to transistorized TVs, to modules to digitals,” he said.
Oberman said that manufacturers no longer provide much support for repair.
Still, on his first Saturday after closing shop, he said that he received calls from six customers asking for his repair services.
“I had to tell them I’m retired,” he said.
Oberman said that he never aspired to take on the big box stores or internet retailers.
“Most of my customers have become very good friends,” he said. “I wasn’t looking to set the world on fire. I want to take care of people in this area.”
“If you can love your job, it’s not about work. It’s not even about money.”
In the 1960s, Oberman attended electronics school and then kept up- to-date, thanks to training provided by Zenith, Admiral, RCA, Philco, Panasonic, Quasar and Motorola, the major manufacturers at the time.
When the first flat screens came out in the early 2000s, Oberman had to learn how to do complex installations, and that became an important part of his business. “The early LEDs were twice as heavy as today’s screens,” Oberman said, but lifting sets is something he has always been able to do. “I can still out-lift a 30-year old.”
“Before the flat screens, we would sell TVs and install them the same day. Installing used to mean putting it on a stand.”
Part of the installation work was done by Oberman’s longtime employee Joel Giacobozzi. Oberman said that Giacobozzi, who — like Oberman — started learning the art of repair at age 13, was the inspiration for keeping the business going. “He’s like my adopted son,” Oberman said.
Giacobozzi went from renting the VHS tapes, which was then part of the business, to learning how to repair sets and how to install flat screens.
“He would send me to classes and pay people to come in and teach me whatever it took to make sure I felt like I was professionally developed,” Giacobozzi said.
“Alongside my awesome parents, he essentially helped raise me,” Giacobozzi said.
Giacobozzi, a Needham High grad who led the marching band and was first trumpet in the jazz band, combined his busy school schedule with long hours at Chromasonic. After graduating UMass, he went back to work for Oberman, but eventually was drawn into teaching. He said that Oberman, who hoped that Giacobozzi might carry on the business, supported the career pivot.
After working as a teacher and as an assistant principal, Giacobozzi is now in his fifth year as principal of Watertown High School.
“A lot of what I use in my day-to-day work leading schools, I learned from Chromasonic,” Giacobozzi said. “Dave taught me how to really look past the business and look at the person you’re serving. Just be a good human being first and a good business person second.”
Chromasonic’s closing leaves a void in the TV repair market. “There aren’t a lot of us left,” Oberman said. “People used to come from as far away as Rhode Island and Maine.”
Oberman said that modern TVs are worth fixing as long as the screen and the display panel, the core that creates the images behind the screen, are intact. Oberman has seen a lot of destroyed display panels. “If someone throws a ball at it or a kid cracks it,” he said, “it’s not economical to repair.”
“We want to keep the sets out of the landfills and some of the older TVs such as the plasmas were excellent.”
Oberman still sells TV’s and is working to develop the Chromasonic web site. “People call me with a model number and I’m usually able to beat the prices out there. I don’t have a lot of overhead and I belong to a buyers cooperative,” he said.
At its Dec. 2 meeting, the Needham Select Board honored Oberman with a Certificate of Recognition. “I was shocked and very humbled,” Oberman said. “I’m a low-key guy.”
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