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Chattanooga: Teas Electric folds after 110 years

By: Brian Lazenby
(Contact)

Included in this article

Buddy Haile

WC Teas Electric recently closed its doors after serving the Chattanooga area for 100 years.

“I’m 77 years old, and I just felt like it was time,” said Buddy Haile, who inherited the business from his father in 1962. “I’m learning that trying to put it out of business is more trouble than running it.”

Mr. Haile closed the doors June 30, but he is now trying to sell the buildings at 1212 McCallie Ave. as well all the electrical parts and equipment.

He estimated he has $150,000 worth of tools and $200,000 in inventory. He said he is unsure what the buildings, which once held a gas station, a Double Cola bottling facility and a television news station, are worth.

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Buddy Haile talks on the phone at his desk at WC Teas Electric on Wednesday afternoon. The business closed in June, and the building will be put up for sale.

Mr. Haile hopes to give the area’s other electrical contractors the first opportunity to purchase the equipment. After that, Mr. Haile said he will hold an “open sale.”

He has mixed feelings about closing the family business, he said.

“It was a good livelihood when we were in business, but as time goes on, I just feel like I don’t need the responsibility,” Mr. Haile said.

Mr. Haile’s wife, Margaret, called the closure a blessing.

“I’m really glad to be rid of it,” she said. “It was a good living, but it was a lot of work.”

Walter Teas, Mr. Haile’s grandfather, was on his way from Indiana to Alabama in 1886 when he stopped in Chattanooga and decided to settle here. He opened the electrical business in 1897.

In 1925, the business was passed to Mr. Haile’s father, Herbert Haile, who operated the company until it was passed on to Mr. Haile in 1962.

According to the Electrical Contractor’s Association, WC Teas was the 15th oldest electrical business in the country when it closed two months ago.

At its peak, Mr. Haile said the business had between 50 and 60 employees, but the last worker leaves at the end of today.

He and his wife will be left with the task of cleaning out the buildings and preparing to sell the tools and inventory.

“We’ve got to clean up everything,” he said.

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