Former Bridgeport police officer starts franchise, nonprofit

Joe LoSchiavo, a longtime Bridgeport resident and a retired deputy police chief, is celebrating his appliance repair franchise’s one-year growth in eastern Fairfield County.

Last year, LoSchiavo’s Mr. Appliance franchise won the Protectors Franchise Advantage Award, which provides law enforcement professionals and firefighters who have served their communities a fee waiver to open a franchise as a second career.

After LoSchiavo received the initial franchise fee waiver from The Dwyer Group, he exited retirement and started the Mr. Appliance repair business franchise with his wife, Linda.

“Retirement isn”™t what it”™s cracked up to be,”  LoSchiavo said. “This franchise and company interested me, so I bought into the concept and the code of values the company stood for. They”™ve been supportive as a franchise company.”

The couple manages a team of two technicians who drive their repair vans to neighborhoods in Bridgeport, Stratford, Trumbull, Shelton, Monroe and Newtown. The business serves clients in Hartford and New Haven County, too. The company is owned by The Dwyer Group, which has its headquarters in Waco, Texas. The LoSchiavo family’s home office is in Orange, Conn.

LoShiavo said he isn’t the sole franchise owner in Fairfield County. Another Mr. Appliance franchise owner, James Ward, has been providing on-site repair services in western Fairfield, Westchester and Putnam counties for several years.

LoSchiavo, who started his career with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. as a draftsman, left his job to become a Bridgeport police officer early on in his professional career. After many years of service, he left the police department and helped start a Subway sandwich franchise and operate it for about four years. Along the way, he went back to drafting and drawing at an engineering company, but he soon realized he wanted to go back into law enforcement. So he quit his job and moved to Stratford, where he wore multiple hats and worked up the ranks to be a deputy chief.

After leaving retirement, LoSchiavo said he is glad to be doing something he enjoys.

“I always liked working with my hands and fixing things,” LoSchiavo said. “We repair all major household appliances ”“ washers, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators, icemakers and wine coolers. We work with all major appliance companies and diagnose appliances.”

The main goal of the company is to expand its client base through word of mouth. Currently, it serves an area with 500,000 people.

“Our whole idea is encore service where people can’t wait to invite Mr. Appliance into their homes,” LoSchiavo said. “The other thing we do is the night before, we send a picture of the technician who is coming to our customer’s home. As a former police officer, I’m concerned about having strangers in my house. I have people thanking me for sending them a picture in advance because it puts people”™s minds at ease.”

Not only has LoSchiavo started a franchise, but several years ago, he founded the nonprofit American Society for Scleroderma Research. His daughter, Joy, was diagnosed with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that results in the hardening of the skin, at age 25.  He and two high school friends have been helping raise funds to donate to Boston University’s medical center. The money contributes to conducting research on scleroderma. Over the past several years, they have raised $780,000.

“It”™s a good feeling they”™re getting closer to the cure,” LoSchiavo said. “Long help our daughter. She”™s now on dialysis for the past six months. She had a kidney transplant. My wife was the donor five years ago. That kidney has gone out on her. Scleroderma is not widely known, and there’s not a lot of research out there. One hundred percent of our money goes to that research.”

Among other community services, LoSchiavo served as a chapter member and president for the Mothers Against Drunk Driving and was appointed to its national board of directors before he retired. He said he continues to donate to the organization.