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Reardon’s closing after 52 years

Liquidation sale this Saturday

By Jeff Sullivan · April 9, 2026
Reardon’s closing after 52 years
Reardon's Electric Supply is saying goodbye after more than half a century in West Roxbury. · Courtesy Photo
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Parkway mainstay Reardon’s Electrical Supply is closing after 52 years serving West Roxbury, Roslindale and beyond.

The company was founded by James Reardon Sr. back in 1974. His grandson, Jay Reardon, said his grandfather built the company on relationships he formed while working “oddball” jobs throughout Boston.

“He had really established a lot of relationships in the electrical business prior to opening the shop,” he said. “He understood that, at least back then, it was a small group of individuals doing electrical supply. This was obviously way before the big Home Depots and Lowes of the world, but he captured a lot of that business throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s.”

Jay said his grandfather started on Belgrade Avenue and moved up to West Roxbury in 2010. He said his father, James Jr., was 18 when they started and he took it over throughout the 90s when James Sr. passed away. He said the business was focused on whatever an electrician would need to make a house a home.

“Really all the things you don’t see behind the wall,” he said. “We did have some services where we would test equipment but it was mostly supplies. Most of the business was contractors walking in for big jobs, residential and commercial. Over the years, we supplied honestly half of the Greater Boston area. We supplied tons of churches and parishes in the area, even the statehouse at one point, all the way through big pharmaceutical companies – even to this day funnily enough – and we’ve been able to serve a lot of different organizations and people throughout the years. Even a lot of the municipalities and hospitals in the area. From the VA hospitals, Brockton Hospital and local hospitals; we’ve served a variety of people and businesses over the years, which has been great and really put us to the test really.”

James Reardon Jr. passed last year in 2025, and Jay said while the business wasn’t something his father pushed him into, they kept the business going for him and his memory. But now Jay has his own career, and the family can’t keep it going now.

“I wouldn’t say I was working there all the time, and that’s a big part of why we’re moving on,” he said. “My father never forced me to work here or take anything over. I went to college and have my own career, and while he was sick we wanted to keep this going and keep it alive for him.”

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Jay emphasized that the business was always a family operation, which included his grandmother Gladys Reardon pitching in when she was needed.

“Growing up in it, it was so close-knit,” he said. “We had uncles and aunts working there, my grandmother was involved in establishing things and working the office and stuff. It was very family-oriented, and throughout the years we employed a lot of family and friends as well as others. We shared a lot of great years with family and friends.”

Reardon said because of this, nobody in the family was really far away from the business.

“There was a lot of talk during normal business hours and off hours too,” he said. “It was just impressive to see how things changed over the years. There has been a big change in the market with how people get these things now. There have been a lot of acquisitions within the electrical supply industry, and I can tell you confidently that we, along with maybe one or two other shops in Boston, were some of the only independent electrical supply companies. Most of what you Google or see in Boston are owned by bigger companies.”

The one-day sale will take place April 11th at 2383 Centre St., West Roxbury from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, go to https://gvimes.link/reardon

About the author

Jeff Sullivan Covers local news and community stories.

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