Jimmy Rea Electronics was a fixture in Columbus audiovisual circles. It was started by Jimmy Rea Sr. in 1965, and his son, Jimmy Rea Junior, took over after the elder’s death.
It was a landmark place in what once was Fire Station #6 at 540 W. Broad in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, just west of downtown. Jimmy Rae had started the company as a high-end home stereo/hi-fi showroom, and by the time I got acquainted with them in the early 70s, he had expanded into pro audio and AV, with movie projectors microphones, speakers, amps and all sorts of accessories.
Visiting Jimmy Rea was a geek nirvana. You’d drive up to the aging brick building and park in the front, where the fire station garage doors used to be. Going in through a small somewhat rickety door on the side, you’d walk up a ramp in a hallway, flanked by aging posters of stereo brands, and turn the corner into his main showroom, which was cluttered with console TVs and stereos, audio components, demo speakers, tripods, video cameras and all kinds of things that would pique the interest of a young person interested in electronics.
In the back he had the pro sound stuff, with big Altec and EV speakers waiting to be demonstrated. Later on, in the front he added a true broacast-style film chain for movie film transfers and video editing, converting his old hi-fi demo rooms into edit suites.
They were the local 3M/Wollensak dealers in town, so the first thing I bought from him when I started business in 1979 was a Wollensak slide-sync cassette recorder, which I still have. It programmed many a slide show in those early days. Later I purchased a Wollensak/3M cassette tape duplicator, and I’d make regular visits to W. Broad to get blank cassette tapes – some of which are in a box in the basement. I also would buy case loads of open reel audio tape used to make soundtracks for my clients.
The Rae family had a big impact in the faith community of Columbus too. For years they ran the outdoor “Free Christian Drive-In” movie theater, and would host a Gospel film every summer weekend, running films on an old carbon arc movie projector long after everyone else had gone to Xenon lamps, with white smoke coming from the chimney of the projection building. It was indeed free, supported by the Rae family and patron donations.
The more we do digital transfers for folks, the more I encounter people who say they remember Jimmy Rae as the go-to place to get things transferred or duplicated. I don't sell gear like they did, but in a way we're carrying on with what Jimmy and Jimmy Jr. began - preserving family and corporate memories for future generations.
Jimmy Rae Jr. passed away in 2015, and the business is now closed, the end of a chapter of Columbus history.
Here’s to you, Jimmy Rea and Jimmy Rae Jr. Thanks for being a pioneering AV presence in Columbus, Ohio!
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