‘I won’t be undersold!’ pitchman dies

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 10, 2002

By Eric Fetters

Herald Writer

Jack Roberts, remembered by most for promising "I won’t be undersold!" in wacky TV commercials for his appliance stores, died Wednesday morning.

The 64-year-old resident of Clearview had battled inoperable prostate cancer over the past three years. He spent his final weeks at Evergreen Hospice in Kirkland.

For 26 years, Roberts owned Jack Roberts Appliance, which started with a store in Lynnwood and at one point grew to five locations. Three stores in the Puget Sound area still carry his name.

Outside of his business, Roberts ministered to inmates and coached numerous youth sports teams in Snohomish County. He and his wife, Linda, had three sons, and he had three daughters from a previous marriage.

Friends described Roberts as a kind and gracious person.

"Jack was a person who enjoyed so much … he was boundless in his energy right up until he died," said Creighton Kolbeck of Edmonds, who knew Roberts for 30 years.

He and others said Roberts was a religious and athletic man who gave much of his time to others. Bill Tsoukalas, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, said it seemed at times like Roberts spent more time volunteering than at this business.

"He had a real passion for kids," Tsoukalas said.

He said Roberts, who was well over 6 feet tall, loved both playing and coaching basketball. Roberts often told of the time he played as a member of the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters, and he coached his sons on several teams.

Tennis was Roberts’ other athletic pursuit, and he had a circle of friends in the Everett area that he regularly played.

He also was known as a donor to many community causes, Tsoukalas said. And he even hired ex-convicts at his stores to help them get back on their feet.

"I think he had a soft spot for people down on their luck," Tsoukalas said.

Roberts’ career in appliance sales began by accident in Wisconsin, where he grew up. He was a factory worker when he went to buy a washing machine and the store owner offered him a job. He later began selling appliances for a wholesale company.

He came to Washington state in the 1960s, becoming a sales manager for Westinghouse. Shortly after quitting that job, he opened his first appliance store in Lynnwood in 1973.

But the TV commercials didn’t start until the 1980s. As competition increased, he decided to become a pitchman to boost his sales.

Over the next two decades, he and his wife became a frequent sight on the small screen, using goofy costumes and his famous line to advertise their stores. Many of the commercials ended with Linda Roberts throwing a cream pie in his face.

By 1990, Roberts owned five stores between Everett and Tacoma. In the mid-1990s, he cut back by selling the Tacoma store to a relative and closing his Everett and North Seattle locations.

He retired from the business in 2000, when he sold his Lynnwood and Renton stores. Since then, the new owners have added a store in Shoreline and closed the Lynnwood location.

In his retirement, he kept up his ministry to inmates at the Snohomish County Jail and remained strongly rooted in his faith as cancer tried to slow him down.

"Even through the trial of going through this, he would have a smile ear to ear and say God is good," said Jim Thomisser, children’s and family pastor at Northlake Christian Church, where Roberts was a longtime member.

"He never did lose that," said Ron Trimble, a church elder who visited Roberts after he was too sick to attend church.

While Kolbeck said he will remember a gentle, kind friend in Roberts, he knows many more will remember just the guy they saw in the commercials. Roberts had a definite flair for successful advertising, he said.

"He was the most recognizable person in the state of Washington for many years," Kolbeck said.

A memorial service for Roberts is planned at Northlake Christian Church, but the date and time had not been set by late Wednesday.

You can call Herald Writer Eric Fetters at 425-339-3453 or send e-mail to fetters@heraldnet.com.