Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison didn’t invent the incandescent electric light. Rather, he improved upon it in 1879.

Thirty-three years later, Nashua’s Everett Ernest Johnson became a local pioneer of this new-fangled electricity “fad” when he opened Johnson’s Electric Shop in 1912.

Nearly a century later, in tandem with their retail lighting store, Just Lights, at 33 Main St. in Nashua, Johnson Electric prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.

“When my great-grandfather started the company, it was a supply house for electric refrigerators and electric lights,” said co-owner Peter Johnson, who runs the business along with his brother, Kurt. “Everybody told him electricity wouldn’t last. But obviously, he saw something there.”

Johnson Electric is one of two Nashua businesses poised to join the 100 club in 2012. Main Street fixture Scontsas Fine Jewelry and Home Decor also celebrates a century in business next year.

They will join a growing group of Nashua businesses that have beaten the odds by making it past the 100-year mark, including Davis Funeral Home (1842), Rice’s Pharmacy (1868), warehousing and distribution company Law Warehouses (1882), Wingate’s Pharmacy (1900), beer distributor Bellavance Beverage (1902) and Burque Jewelers (1909).

“There are three- and four-generation businesses,” Peter Johnson said. “I think our community is a little different because we do have so many of them … I think that’s what makes Nashua so unique.”

When Johnson Electric got its start, Peter Johnson said, there were very few electricians and those that did exist were unable to keep up with the demand for in-home electricity. So doing installations was a natural progression for the family business.

“They would go out to a big house in Hollis by horse and buggy and head out there with the knob and wiring and hook them into the street,” he said. “They would stay overnight, finish the job the next day, put the refrigerator and the lights in, and maybe a couple of outlets here and there and then ride home that next day. That’s how he started.”

From there, Johnson said, his great-grandfather moved to 209 Main St. in the 1920s, where the business remained until 1986.

“His two sons, Everett, Jr., and my grandfather, Ernest, ran the company with my great-grandfather up until the ’70s. And then in the ’80s, I took it over.”

Johnson Electric moved off Main Street in 1986, when building owner Henry Bechard opted to take over the entire edifice.

“My dad bought property on Harbor Avenue, and we were there in the location of the old Chagnon Lumber up until 10 years ago,” Peter Johnson said. “Then we moved to 29 Front St. and got out of the supply business, by and large.”

In 2000, Peter Johnson and company returned to Main Street with a retail store called Just Lights. But Johnson Electric has stayed busy with contracting, Peter Johnson said – even installing the sports lighting at Holman Stadium in 1945 and again in 1995.

“That was pretty cool,” he said.

Johnson said when he came out of Plymouth College, he initially wanted the company to “go big” but realized after a short period of time that there were too many headaches associated with larger jobs.

“And it’s the same profit margin,” he said with a laugh. “So I’d rather do 10 $5,000 jobs than one $10,000 job. It’s nice to be small. Maybe there’s not as much money but it’s comfortable. I’ve got 12 employees, we all make a living and we all have roofs over our heads.”

“This is a family business,” he said. “That’s the way we’ve always been.”