Hugo’s Appliances
Written and Photographed by Nancy Clover
You have lots of choices on where to shop for appliances. May I suggest you avoid the big box stores and head to Hugo’s Melrose Appliance on Main Street?
There is something special about a family-owned and operated establishment. The appliance specialty store was started 75 years ago by the family patriarch, Alfred Porcaro Jr, affectionately called Big Al, who passed away in 2021.
When we moved to Melrose, we wanted to replace all the appliances. It was at the height of supply chain issues, so we knew this was not going to be an easy task.
Walking into the store crowded with appliances and boxes creating small aisles, you can hear the voice of Al Jr behind the desk. I have no idea how he juggled all the phone calls and customer questions but he did it seamlessly. A trait he learned from Big Al, his father.
Once he finished with other customers, we had his full attention – Al listened to what we needed and directed us over to the GE Café line – it was exactly what we wanted! He suggested we look around for other options, but we were satisfied with the merchandise he showed us.
Most of our appliances would be available in the requested time frame. The fridge was back ordered but Al told us that going into the purchase. The delivery had a few glitches, but we worked through them and in the end were happy. The delivery men were super nice, and they cleaned up. Because the fridge was delayed, they delivered a loaner one which was a life saver.
We purchased a stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer, and dryer. Al gave us all the paperwork for multiple rebates. The appliances are wonderful, great features, and look great in our kitchen.
A couple of months later we went back to Hugo’s to see if we could get a small beverage fridge for our newly created coffee bar – in no time he looked up the item in his book and ordered exactly what we wanted.
Hugo’s has a large inventory and competitive prices.
Hugo’s Appliance store is another amazing store that excels at customer service, knowledge, a sense of humor and is part of the fabric that makes Melrose so special.
