By RAZAK DIALLO
Photo credit: Razak Diallo
Nestled between two in-progress developments, The Spot and Hyattsville Canvas Apartments, lies a storefront over half the age of the city in which it resides. While the sound of construction may attack the ears outside, walking into the brick-and-mortar building with vacuums in the window will temporarily transport you back in time.
I think other than a few funeral homes, we might be one of the oldest businesses in town,” said Bill Scott, owner of Hyattsville Vacuum Service.
Located at the intersection of Baltimore Avenue and Hamilton Street, the store is a cleaner’s paradise: HEPA filters, vacuum bags, belts, towels, and more cleaning supplies line the store’s walls. New vacuum cleaners, mop wringers, and commercial cleaning machines dominate the main floor area, and an interior window on the back wall, crowned with an old-fashioned letterboard listing the prices of belt changes and hose uncloggings, gives a view of the repair area.
During its 83-year history, Hyattsville Vacuum has switched hands between only four owners, the most recent being 56-year-old Scott.
“The first owner is somewhat nebulous,” Scott said. “It’s been so long we don’t know who it is.”
Photo credit: Razak Diallo
Despite its name, Hyattsville Vacuum’s primary business hasn’t been vacuums for some time. According to Scott, the business switched hands for the first time in 1974 from the mysterious first owner to Tyrus Peele. Then, in 1991, Peele sold to Ron Rhine, who moved the business toward selling cleaning supplies to local churches, offices, cleaning companies and schools.
Rhine owned a cleaning company and consistently came to Peele for vacuum repairs. One day, Rhine went into the store and Peele reported to him that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Scott said that Rhine bought the business the next day. Using his experience from his cleaning businesses, Rhine expanded the store’s niche.
“He knew other people in the cleaning business, and they were coming to him saying, ‘Can you get this, can you get this?’” Scott said.
Scott moved to College Park from Indiana around the same time the business ownership changed hands. He would be Rhine’s next-door neighbor for over 20 years and routinely helped Rhine with repairs in his house. After Scott found himself out of a job, Rhine enlisted his help around the store. Two years later, in 2017, with Rhine reaching the age of 80 and needing a successor, Scott stepped up.
“Many people ask if I’m Ron’s son,” Scott said. “He was almost like a second father to me because I lived next to him for so long … we were close.”
For the past seven years, Scott has continued to do what the business has done for years: provide vacuum repairs and accessories, sewing machine repairs, a wide array of cleaning products, and even advice on what products would be suitable for specific jobs.
“Word spreads around … and they [customers] want to be able to come to one place and get all the stuff they need and not have to search through a whole big store,” he said.
Christian Diaz, the sole employee, has worked at Hyattsville Vacuum for six months. Diaz works in the back area of the store surrounded by various machines and tools. For Diaz, the store provides something larger retail stores can’t — decades of knowledge.
“People really appreciate us because we know what we’re doing,” Diaz said.
The business has become a symbol of nostalgia for longtime Hyattsville residents.
“For the people that have lived here a long time, many of them know the business, and I think that they appreciate that there’s still something left of what they remember when they were kids,” Scott said.
Curtis Lockerman, owner of Lockerman Enterprises Janitorial, has been a customer of Hyattsville Vacuum for 35 years. The location is convenient for Lockerman, providing him with everything he needs only a seven-minute car ride away.
“When I go in there, I feel like I’m part of the family,” Lockerman said. “When I’m with other customers there, we’re able to help each other out like one big family.”
Scott has a few more objectives before repairing his last vacuum. He has been playing with the idea of changing the business name to be more representative of their current output: cleaning and janitorial supplies.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people come in the back … and they don’t pay attention and realize we have a store in the front,” Scott said.
Ultimately, Scott says, as he nears retirement age, he hopes to continue running the business until it’s ready for a new owner. But he’s not in a rush.
“I just would like to get it to the point where it’s a business worth passing down to someone else,” Scott said. “Things like that tend to come when it’s time.”
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Razak Diallo is an undergraduate journalism major at the University of Maryland.
