Garey Alimia started at a young age repairing washers and dryers with his father in the New Orleans area. Eventually he decided he also wanted to sell appliances so in 1974 he opened a retail store named A-1 Maytag Home Appliance Center which was an exclusive Maytag store in Gretna, Louisiana. In 1984 he decided to take on other brands so the store was renamed A-1 Appliance. By this time Garey had 3 locations which were in Metairie, Gretna and New Orleans. As the years went on he opened 4 more stores for a total of 7. In 1998 he acquired 6 of the ex-Campo stores out of bankruptcy which also put A-1 into the Electronics business and the name was changed to A-1 Appliance & Electronics. Some of the stores were consolidated which made for a combined number of 8 stores in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
A-1 Appliance, Bedding & Furniture continues on as the largest Independent Appliance Retailer in the New Orleans area and belongs to the largest buying group, Nationwide Marketing Group, in the United States. A-1 has the largest selection and the Guaranteed Lowest Prices on the top Major brands in the Industry.