Community remembers longtime businessman Charlie Wilson

Jul. 20—SOUTHERN INDIANA — The community is remembering a local businessman who launched a company that has been open for nearly 70 years in Kentuckiana.

Charlie Wilson, founder of Charlie Wilson's Appliance and TV, died Tuesday at age 96. He opened his first store in Louisville in 1953, and over the decades, he became a household name in the area. There have been several locations over the years, and the appliance store is currently located on Lewis and Clark Parkway in Clarksville.

David Wilson, Charlie's son and the president of the company, described his father as a "person of the people." Charlie was known for building relationships with his customers, and as he worked in his store, he provided the "Charlie Wilson experience," David said.

"He was just very upbeat, and he was a down-to-earth person," David said. "He loved people. He just loved to meet people and learn about them. He'd be selling TVs and mattresses along with finding out who they are, where they come from, what their job was and what have you."

Charlie was born in 1926 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, a community known for coal mining. He attended the same one-room school house as Warren Oates, who went on to become a famous actor, and he was neighbors with The Everly Brothers, according to David.

During World War II, Charlie dropped out of high school to fight in the U.S. Navy. He served in New Hebrides in the Pacific as an ambulance driver transporting wounded Marines and sailors.

When the war was over, he intended to work as a coal truck driver, but a preacher at his church encouraged him to take a different route. The preacher helped him enroll at Western Kentucky University.

"The person asked, 'Where is your diploma', and he said, 'I don't have a diploma,'" David said. "The preacher interceded, 'he doesn't have a diploma — he went and put his life on the line for our country.'"

Although Charlie didn't have a high school diploma, he was able to enroll at the university. After graduating from college, he started his career as a salesman.

In 1953, Charlie Wilson's Appliance and TV opened its first store at Preston Street and Eastern Parkway in Louisville, and a location on State Street in New Albany opened a few years later.

The store relocated to various locations in Louisville over the years, and in 2015, the business opened in Clarksville.

Charlie previously told the News and Tribune that he started off with "almost no money."

He was actively involved in the company years after his retirement. Until the pandemic, Charlie was still going into the store several days a week, where he would serve as a greeter, according to David.

Over the decades, the businessman made a big impression on the employees at the company. For Neil Smallwood, a salesperson who has worked at Charlie Wilson's for 34 years, Charlie was like a family member.

"He was a very honest, kind, fair person," he said. "If you knew him, your life is better from knowing him. He cared about not just what you could do here at the store day-to-day — he cared about your personal life and your family. He made sure you could provide for your family."

Smallwood recalled Charlie's love for his business.

"I used to say that if you gave him a credit card and told him it was good anywhere in the world, where would you want to go, and he would say, 'take me to Charlie Wilson's,'" Smallwood said.

Charlie wanted to make sure "everything was done correctly," Smallwood said.

"Correct was not just what was good for him— correct was what was good for the customer," he said. "He'd make sure they were taken care of while in the store and make sure they were taken care of after the sale, so they would continue to come back, then everybody wins."

Phillip Shull, who has been employed at Charlie Wilson's for 16 years, said working for the company has been a "great job" that provided the support he needed as he started his family.

He describes Charlie was a "role model" as both a veteran and a self-made businessman. He was always concerned about the wellbeing of employees, he said.

Shull serves as customer service manager, and he learned a lot from his time working with Charlie.

"Charlie always tried to help the customer when he was here in the store," he said. "He was always customer-oriented...those are my memories of Charlie, and that has been passed down to me."

David took over as president of Charlie Wilson's in 1980, and his two siblings also serve in leadership roles — his brother, Steve, is the vice president, and his sister, Krystal, is the secretary.

His dad was focused on providing the best deals on products at the appliance store, he said.

"He was always looking to try and get people more than what they bargained for," he said. "He was always kind of an under-promiser but an over-deliverer. What we continue to try and do is maintain that legacy and that image"

David said he doesn't "know how you could ask for more in a dad." He described his father as a man of faith and a "very giving person" who did many things behind-the-scenes to help people.

For example, David met someone a few months ago who described the first time he met Charlie after running out of gas on the Sherman Minton Bridge. The businessman picked him up, got some gas and brought the man back to his car.

The man said he had been buying appliances from Charlie Wilson's ever since, according to David.

In addition to running his business, Charlie enjoyed golfing and watching races such as NASCAR and the Indy 500. He had lived in Southern Indiana for the past seven decades, and he died at Guerin Woods in Georgetown.

The appliance company was like his father's "fourth child," according to David. Charlie was a genuine, hard-working person, and his values set the foundation for his children, he said.

"We continue running the business the way we were taught," he said.