A nearly 150-year-old Bay Area appliance company known for its iconic sign and jingle is closing down this year.

In an emotional post on its website, San Jose-based Western Appliance said that both family health problems and larger changes to the appliance retail industry have made the business “untenable.”

Western Appliance sign, 2019. (Google Street View) 

“As much as it has been our pleasure helping with your appliance needs, the current environment in this business has necessitated we close operations,” the post reads. “In short, we can no longer offer the level of service you are accustomed to, you expect from us and that we take pride in providing.”

Since opening its first store in Bakersfield in 1873 — then selling furniture and household goods — Western Appliance expanded into Santa Clara and San Jose in the early 20th century.

In 1962, the first iteration of its beloved sign was born, consisting of three lit-up prongs atop a rhombus bearing the company name. The jingle, meanwhile — “Western Appliance, making life much easier for you” — played to Bay Area customers on television for decades.

The company’s offerings range from kitchen appliances like refrigerators, stoves and dishwashers to washers and dryers. But it’s become increasingly difficult to keep up with big-box stores, the post said.

Over the next few months, Western Appliance will begin liquidating its stores, starting with a farewell sale that kicked off with the start of the new year.

But the post reminded readers that with its more than a century of operation, Western Appliance isn’t “just another retailer that’s closing its doors.”

“We were together from when San Jose teemed with orchards and agriculture and we were delivering propane to farmers, to its place today as the tech capital of the world,” the post read. “We have been doing business here for this long because we have been blessed with incredible customers.”