Three generations of Slymans now man the brick and mortars of Slyman Bros. Appliances Centers, as the company that started in 1965 with a black and white television commercial of Harry and Bob Slyman dangling their legs from the just completed St. Louis Arch and yelling “Thank you, St. Louis, for making us tops in town” continues to be a team, and a family, effort.
At that time, a loaf of bread cost 21 cents, a new home, around $13,000. Running a business didn’t include an online presence, and the term social media wasn’t even a blip on the radar. It was just two brothers, a quirky commercial and a penchant for selling quality appliances at affordable prices in a no-nonsense way.
“If you’re a St. Louis native, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen the classic Slyman Bros. commercials,” says company president and third-generation Slyman, Chris Slyman. “Maybe you remember them from your childhood. Or maybe you discovered them while down a YouTube rabbit hole of funny local commercial compilations. However it may be, these commercials are how Bob and Harry made a name for themselves. They swung their legs while sitting atop The St. Louis Arch. They even got inside a microwave oven. They used the only thing that came more naturally to them than selling appliances: their humor, wit and creativity, to bring their local business into the homes of their customers.”
“Today we’ve managed to get to a place that Bob and Harry never could have predicted,” Chris says. “But the legacy they laid out for us lives on: keep family at the forefront and deliver savings and quality service to our customers.”
Also, today, from its new, larger location in South County, that includes a 2,000-square-foot Sub-Zero, Wolf & Cove luxury brand showroom. Its newly expanded Ballwin location contains one as well. Slyman Bros. has evolved from the two brothers in the seventies telling mom to “Take her away,” to one of the top purveyors of high-end and luxury appliances in St. Louis. Other locations include West St. Louis County, St. Louis City and O’Fallon, Missouri, along with the fifth showroom at their distribution center in Manchester for the highly anticipated outlet sale of unboxed appliances that happens only a few times a year.
From "Try Us, You'll Like Us" to its new tag line "The Most Trusted Name in Major Home Appliances," Chris and his five third-generation cousins are leading the charge to keep Slyman Bros. the “Tops in Town.”
West St. Louis County Slyman Bros.: 636.227.7727
SlymanBros.com
“Today we’ve managed to get to a place that Bob and Harry never could have predicted,” company president Chris Slyman says. “But the legacy they laid out for us lives on: keep family at the forefront and deliver savings and quality service to our customers.”