Aurora Video Audio closes after 60 years

Aurora Video Audio has permanently closed its doors, ending an era for local electronics repair after six decades of fixing televisions and serving generations of customers in Brandon and Westman.

The family-owned business, founded by Joseph Charles Kosior, announced its closure on Saturday, following Joseph’s death in January at age 92 and the retirement of his son, Walter Kosior, the store’s general manager and longtime television technician.

“Walter is the last registered TV technician in Brandon and Westman and now he’s retired,” said company president Jacob Kosior, who is also Joseph’s son.

For the Kosiors, the business was more than a store — it was a family legacy built over 60 years.

Joseph started Aurora Video Audio in 1966 after taking TV repair courses while working for Manitoba Hydro. He began repairing televisions in the basement of his home on McDonald Avenue before purchasing the building at 1139 Rosser Ave., Jacob said.

“Friends came, and he repaired TVs for his friends, and then it got enough volume that he actually bought this building,” he said.

Over the years, the store grew alongside Brandon’s changing technology landscape. Jacob recalled one of the business’s biggest moments came in 1972, just before the historic Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, when customers rushed to buy colour televisions.

“The store was completely cleaned out,” he said. “People did not care at that time what the price was. They just wanted to make sure they had something to watch in colour for the Canada-Russia hockey series.”

However, as large retailers entered the market, including big-box stores that sold televisions at lower prices, Aurora faced increasing challenges.

Jacob said companies could compete on sales but not on the personalized service Aurora provided.

“The biggest problem with a lot of the big-box stores — nobody repaired television sets,” he said. “They just wanted to sell. We still had a loyal following of people over the years who did not want to buy from the big-box stores. They liked the idea, the concept.”

For more than three decades, Walter Kosior was the person customers turned to when their televisions stopped working.

Walter said the store’s reputation was built on trust, expertise and service.

“The thing that distinguishes me and my store from other box stores is the level of knowledge and service that I provided,” Walter told the Sun. “When they turned their back and walked out the store after they bought something, they felt 100 per cent confident in the product and 100 per cent confident in me that I would back them up.”

Changing consumer habits played a major role in the store’s decline.

Jacob said modern electronics have increasingly become disposable items, with many people choosing to replace rather than repair.

“It’s a throwaway society now,” he said. “You buy it, and if it breaks down, if it costs $400 to $600, people say, ‘I’ll just forget it. I’ll buy a new TV.’”

He said the environmental impact of discarded electronics is a growing concern.

“When I was cleaning out the back of the store, how much electronics — rows upon rows of old TVs, 55-, 65-inch TVs — were at the landfill site,” he said. “It’s not the current generation that’s going to pay for it. It’s going to be the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren.”

Aurora Video Audio also provided specialized technical support beyond residential customers. Walter said organizations and industries across Westman often turned to the business when they encountered complex electronic problems.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the store was considered an essential service because of its role in helping businesses and organizations maintain operations, Walter said.

He recalled helping companies such as Maple Leaf Foods troubleshoot technical issues with industrial equipment when engineers could not resolve the problem.

“They didn’t think anybody in Brandon had the equipment, but we did,” Walter said. “They were very thankful because it was very expensive per hour to lose production.”

The store was also known as a gathering place where customers often stopped by simply to visit Joseph.

“This place was like a Cheers,” Walter said. “People would just come in, visit and talk to Joe about anything.”

Lisa Kosior, Aurora’s finance officer and Joseph’s daughter, said many customers are still unaware of the store’s closure.

“There are still people to this day that don’t know my father passed away,” she said. “It was our father’s wish when he passed away that the store closes. That was his dying wish.”

Joseph’s connection to the store remained strong until the end of his life.

“Even when he was in the hospital for a couple of days, the first thing he did, he didn’t even go home to rest. He came here to see his baby,” Jacob said. “This is what kept him going for all the years.”

The Kosior family said customers have continued to share memories of Joseph’s kindness and technical expertise, including stories of him helping people understand their electronics, finding parts and sometimes providing small repairs at no cost.

“He believed back in the day that everybody was good with a handshake,” Lisa said. “You wanted to buy a TV, you had no money — he would give you a TV on credit … He believed people needed entertainment.”

As the store closes, each family member is moving into a new chapter.

Lisa will continue working with Prairie Mountain Health, while Walter plans to enjoy retirement after more than 34 years working full-time at Aurora.

“I have never had a day off in 34 years,” Walter said. “I’ve worked seven days a week, day and night. I can’t remember when my last holiday was.”

However, he said he expects some customers may still reach out for advice.

“They still want to be able to count on me if they can have access to me and phone me once in a blue moon and see if I can help them,” Walter said. “I still feel obligated to help, and I probably will.”

Jacob said the closure represents a loss not only for the family but for the community.

“Unfortunately, I feel bad for the city of Brandon and the Westman region as a whole because now we’re gone,” he said. “We lost something.”

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

» X: @AbiolaOdutola