In the Late 1960's, Robert P. Carr, Sr. and his wife, Ruth, moved from Olean, NY to Smethport with their children to run a Sears appliance store.  The store was mostly a catalog store, and remained a Sears until 1993, when Sears decided to close its catalog stores, and only operate the larger, more modern stores.  Under the ownership and management of  Robert and Ruth's son, Bernie Carr, since 1992, the building was not out of commission for long, and reopened that same year as Bernie's Appliance and Electronics Center.  It is still Bernie's today.