Batteries Plus promises to keep power on
By Elaine Morris Roberts
May 19, 2008

Local residents have lost their last excuse for letting a power tool go idle because the battery died.

Batteries Plus, 1780 N. Bechtle Ave., tests batteries, provides new batteries for numerous products, rebuilds old batteries and provides custom in-house battery assembly.

The store's owners, John and Alisa Alvarez, have two other locations in Dayton and Bellbrook.

John joined the corporate arm of the company in 1992, working his way up to director of operations. He said 100-hour work weeks made family life a challenge, so when he decided to make a change, buying a franchise seemed to be the way to go. The couple took over the Bellbrook store in 2000.

Springfield became a natural choice, he said, because he had a growing list of local corporate clients that could be better-served from a closer location.

He said the retail growth on Bechtle Avenue also offered an opportunity to bring his products and services to nonbusiness customers.

Wittenberg University, an established client, relies on the company for batteries including those for the two-way radios used by electricians to communicate while on the job.

"They take good care of us and we need some pretty odd batteries replaced," said Jeff Schrader, an electrician at Wittenberg, during a recent visit to the store. In addition to sending batteries out the door, Batteries Plus accepts rechargeable batteries or auto batteries for recycling.

Batteries Plus receives referrals from places like Radio Shack and Best Buy, John Alvarez said.

"We receive those referrals because we don't cut into their core business," he said. "We sell batteries for the things everyone else sells."