After more than five decades in business, Royal Home Entertainment is preparing to close its doors, marking the end of a remarkable chapter for both the business and the neighborhood it has called home for generations.

For owner Joe DeGuide, Royal Home Entertainment has never been just a storefront. It has been a daily rhythm, a place to go each morning, a source of pride, and, in many ways, part of his identity. Since opening in 1971, the business has seen Lakeview East transform through eras of music, nightlife, technology, development, and neighborhood reinvention, all while adapting right alongside it.

From records and tapes to video rentals, electronics, repairs, custom installations, security systems, and commercial audio, Royal Home Entertainment’s story is also a story of how the world changed. You do not make it 55 years in a neighborhood like Lakeview East without learning how to change, how to take care of people, and how to keep going when the world around you looks completely different than it did when you started.

Royal Home Entertainment’s story began in May of 1971, but not at its current storefront. The business first opened on Wilson Avenue, in the area where Truman College now stands. From the beginning, change was part of the story. With the college development on the horizon, Joe and his brother John knew their first location would not be permanent.

In the fall of 1973, they opened a new location at Addison and Broadway, operating out of a double storefront at 3557–3559 N. Broadway. That spot became home for nearly a decade, from 1973 to 1982, as the business grew through the record and tape era and found its footing in a neighborhood that was already beginning to shift.

By 1980, the video business was starting to take shape, and Joe saw an opportunity. At the time, there was growing talk that home video would become a major market, but their building management company would only offer a one-year lease at the Addison and Broadway location. With an older building requiring investment and no long-term security, Joe made the decision to open the current Broadway storefront in October of 1980.

For a period of time, both locations operated at once as the Addison and Broadway store wound down and the new location took root. More than 45 years later, that “new” location has become the one generations of Lakeview East neighbors know today.

Watching Lakeview East Change

When Royal Home Entertainment arrived at its current location, the rhythm of the neighborhood was different. Weekdays were quiet, but weekends were packed. Joe remembers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday bringing a constant flow of people down Broadway, with sidewalks full and traffic crawling from Addison to Diversey.

At the time, the area still carried the name “New Town,” a neighborhood identity that reflected its place in Chicago’s early wave of gentrification after Old Town. The streets were dense with bars, nightlife, and a very different kind of energy than what Lakeview East is known for today. Joe can still rattle off the names of former neighborhood spots, from Lanigan’s and Flanagan’s to Gaffers and The Brewery, remembering a Broadway that was lively, crowded, and a little rough around the edges.

Over the years, that energy shifted. The neighborhood moved from bar-heavy nightlife and record-buying crowds into restaurants, service businesses, apartments, shops, and a more residential feel. National chains came and went. Local storefronts changed hands. Technology transformed. But through it all, Royal Home Entertainment stayed adapting to each new chapter while keeping one foot firmly planted in the neighborhood’s past.

Evolving With the Times

If Royal Home Entertainment’s 55-year story proves anything, it is that small businesses survive by learning how to change. When Joe and John first started out, the business sold electronics, records, and tapes. In the 1970s, they hit the disco era at exactly the right time. Joe still remembers selling more than 100 copies of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in a single weekend when it was at its peak.

Then came video. As more people started buying VCRs and home entertainment systems, Royal Home Entertainment moved into video rentals, building a whole new part of the business around a technology that, at the time, was changing how people watched movies at home. Eventually, VHS gave way to DVDs, and DVDs gave way to streaming. Joe admits that when he first heard about Netflix and the idea of streaming, he was skeptical that it would ever really work.

Of course, technology kept moving. So did the business. As video rentals faded, Royal Home Entertainment shifted further into electronics, repairs, custom installation, camera systems, commercial audio, and residential and business technology work. What once meant selling someone a TV, assembling the stand, and connecting a VCR slowly became something much more complex: whole systems, wired spaces, security cameras, speakers, and the kind of behind-the-scenes work that helps homes and businesses function.

In that way, Royal Home Entertainment became a quiet witness to several major cultural shifts. Records became tapes. Tapes became CDs. Video rentals became streaming. Big box TVs became flat screens. Simple hookups became full audio and security systems. Through it all, Joe kept finding the next version of the business.

The Secret Sauce

When asked how Royal Home Entertainment managed to stay in business for so long, Joe’s answer was simple: good customer service.

Stand behind your product. Stand behind your work. Do not give people a “song and dance.” Take pride in what you do, and make sure people know they can trust you.

For Joe, word of mouth has always been one of the most powerful forms of advertising. A customer has a good experience, tells a friend, that friend tells a relative, and slowly a reputation is built. Not overnight and not from one big flashy moment but through decades of doing the work, answering the phone, showing up, fixing problems, and earning trust one customer at a time. That kind of longevity is not accidental. It is built in the small moments: the honest recommendation, the job done right, the follow-up after something goes wrong, the willingness to keep adapting even when the industry changes underneath you.

What Future Business Owners Can Learn

After 55 years, Joe has seen plenty of businesses open, close, expand, move, and try to make it in Lakeview East. His advice for future business owners is refreshingly practical.

First, be prepared. A new business does not become profitable just because the doors are open. Joe believes owners need to be ready to lose money in the beginning, and they need enough saved to cover staff, utilities, vendors, rent, taxes, and the unexpected expenses that always seem to arrive right on schedule.

Second, know what you are signing. Commercial leases, tax responsibilities, buildout costs, and long-term obligations can catch new business owners off guard. A storefront may look like a dream from the sidewalk, but behind the scenes, the numbers need to work.

Third, cheapest is not always best. Joe has learned that the lowest price often comes with a reason attached. Whether it is hiring a contractor, choosing a vendor, or making an investment in the business, value matters more than a quick bargain.

And finally, know when to adapt. Royal Home Entertainment lasted because it did not stay frozen in one era. The business changed as the world changed, and Joe kept paying attention to what customers needed next.

Thank You, Royal Home Entertainment

After 55 years in business, Royal Home Entertainment leaves behind more than a storefront. It leaves behind a story of family, grit, service, technology, reinvention, and neighborhood memory. For generations of Lakeview East neighbors, Royal Home Entertainment has been part of the everyday landscape: the kind of place you pass on a walk, remember from another era, or turn to when you need someone who actually knows what they are talking about. For Joe, the storefront became part of his identity, a place to go each morning and a business built through decades of work, change, and community connection.

As Royal Home Entertainment prepares to close this chapter, we want to thank Joe, his family, and everyone who helped shape the business over the years. Thank you for 55 years of service, stories, problem-solving, neighborhood history, and staying power.

Lakeview East has changed many times since 1971, but businesses like Royal Home Entertainment are what give those changes meaning. They remind us that a neighborhood is not just made up of buildings and storefronts. It is made up of the people who show up, year after year, and leave their mark.

Final Note:

Royal Home Entertainment’s storefront is expected to remain open through mid-June, with Joe’s last official day in the neighborhood anticipated around July 1. As they begin clearing out inventory, all reasonable offers will be considered, so neighbors are encouraged to stop in, browse, and take home a piece of local history while they can.

While the storefront chapter is coming to a close, Joe’s work is not disappearing entirely. Royal Home Entertainment will continue in a new form through online platforms, with Joe also offering consulting for AV systems, installations, and related projects. So while this may be goodbye to the Broadway storefront, it is not quite goodbye to the expertise, service, and know-how that have carried the business for 55 years.