yukichon

I know the more main stream names such as Best Buy, Lowes and Home Depot, but can anyone recommend specialist stores for buying household appliances?

Yorkieabroad

Might help if to know what you were after, and where you are...is it that you can't get what you are after at the big stores, or you're just looking for better prices?There is an independent appliance store in old town Katy, along with a couple of hi-fi/home theater places etc, but I don't think you're round here!

In the past we have bought small kitchen appliances from Kohls and jCPenney, depending on what sales have been on, and also from various restaurant supply stores we found through google. Larger items such as fridges and washing machines have come from the places you've mentioned (plus Sears) as they have had the best prices/offers. We have bought things from Conns (local chain I think)but their choice is a bit limited, service a bit so-so, and name a bit off-putting!

We have bought electronics from Fry's (which is an electronic store near us, but think may be a foodstore elsewhere) but it's a bit of a way away, and the prices have rarely justified the journey.

I think googling locally is probably you're best bet.

Pulaski

There is no such thing as a national specialist retailer of household appliances. Even the regional ones sell home electronics in addition to appliances, .... but then that is normal in the UK too.

Other retailers that sell appliances include Sears, and HH Gregg (which I think is national). In my experience Home Depot tends to be a little cheaper than Lowes, but in either, don't be afraid to look in their catalog (or look on line at the manufacturers' websites), because if a manufacturer makes it, they will order it for you, and their showrooms tend to have mostly the middle to low-end models on display. They do not however supply appliances from the ultra high end manufacturers such as Viking, Wolf, and Subzero.

Guindalf

We've bought a washer and a stove in recent times from Lowes. I like to get the best deal and in both cases, I got the best available price along with free delivery and haul-away. The guys who delivered were first class, but of course, that's the luck of the draw.

I'd have no problems in recommending them. Of course, I had to watch pricing and get them at the best deal. There was also interest free financing on them, which always helps the cash-flow.

Jan Alaska

We have had some great luck with Sears, I recently bought a Kenmore washer and dryer both with steam for $1400. They were last years models but seeing as they don't go out much I'm sure no one will really notice. The nearest comparable prices at the other big boxes locally were at least $600 different.

266mac

Nebraska Furniture Mart is good - if you are in the mid west

Mr Weeze

Look at Costco or Sams too

md95065

For standard stuff as opposed to high end brands I have looked at places like Best Buy and Home Depot but always ended up buying online from Sears - the prices were always about the same but Sears has really good delivery times - often next day - while the other places always seemed to be at least 2 weeks ...

Pulaski

FWIW Round here at least, Lowes, has the best "scratch and dent" choices. Who cares if there is a dent in the concealed side of the fridge or stove, or it's last year's model, or even that your washer and drier don't match? You can usually get a minimum of 20% off with clearance appliances at Lowes, but a 50%-60% discount is possible for fairly cosmetic damage that is not even visible when the appliance is installed.

I bought a stainless steel cooker that matched (same brand and finish) the dishwasher and microwave I had already installed, and would happily have paid full price for. I found it with a minor scratch on the side, for about 35% off, and when I told the salesman "I [was] "interested in it" (that'sall I said), he responded that "the best he could do was knock another 10% off.". !!!

Tip: Visit Lowes stores in the nicest parts of town on Mondays, after scratched appliances from the weekend deliveries have been returned to the store.

Michael

Check the manufacturers web site for recalls. GE has recalls on several dishwashers (10 years or older) where they will either fix the problem or give you several hundred dollar rebates on a new one (your choice). Recently I replaced my GE profile 12 year old dishwasher with another GE Profile dishwasher at the price of a standard GE dishwasher ($700 dishwasher on sale for $450 after rebate) and it is by far the quietest dishwasher I've ever owned. I could have also purchased a standard GE dishwasher for $300 after rebate.

http://www.geappliances.com/products/recall/

Over the past year, Best Buy has been very aggressive in their pricing but you have to hit them when they have their big sales (usually below Lowe's and Home Depot prices).

Bob

Home Depot/Lowes will price match each others offer and accept any coupon/discount the other is offering.

Can't go wrong with BJ's/Sams/Costco either.

Locally though, there's quite a few smaller outfits that usually offer decent deals, price match, better delivery/pick up options and they're usually much better on warranty repairs than the big chains plus they're more open to you haggling the price if you're buying multiple things.

For scratch and dents and clearance in general, for Sears at least, locally anyway. They pull them out of the warehouse for sale on the 3rd Thursday of the month for the big things, where they give the biggest discounts as they only get pennies on the pound on returning most of the goods apparently.

Jerseygirl

Sears are pretty good...they will match competitor's prices...often without checking. I also use them for out of warranty repairs...they tell you the charge upfront...then the fridge/dishwasher etc is guaranteed for 12 months.

WEBlue

We did the same at this time last year. (Not sure what the 'steam' is, though--I don't think we got that.) A local Sears "Home" store (I think they do only major appliances?) had a great sale on for a washer & dryer set for way lower price than anyone else. Check the flyers that come in bundled inside your local paper for the sales.

Nutmegger

I use a small independent local store that is willing to meet the prices of the big chains (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.), which I feel gives me the best of both worlds: good prices and personal service from someone who will be there the next time I go to the shop. You might want to look for a similar long-established local store and see if they offer the same kind of deal.

ChocolateBabz

We used Sears Appliance Outlet for our washer, dryer and fridge/freezer. They had some deal on where if you bought 2 appliances you got x% rebate and if you bought 3 you got more. We ended up with a $600 rebate cheque