It wasn't that many years ago when Black Friday specials would create frenzied crowds like you see in the photo above! People would wait in line for hours in the freezing cold, waiting for their favorite store to open (and often retailers would open at 1AM or earlier - once I believe Wal-Mart opened at 5:00 PM Thanksgiving Day!), all to beat the crowd on an extremely limited supply of fantastic markdowns on a few specific models.
Fortunately, and for a lot of reasons (customer safety and staffing issues being the top two) the retail industry has gotten away from this.
Now, historically the appliance industry shied away from "Black Friday" specials, until the mid-2010s. Today, the appliance manufacturers are just as aggressive as others when it comes to crazy specials. The nice thing is, you don't have to stand in line in the cold for appliance specials. Our specials have already begun, and run until the end of November. Think of this as "Black November" instead of "Black Friday"!
I'm going to run through an example of the savings you can achieve if you decide to take advantage of these discounts. For purposes of this demonstration, we're going to put together a typical four piece, mid to upper-level set of appliances.
Refrigeration. Let's start with the refrigerator, as this is the appliance that gives you as a consumer the most style and size choices. It's also the category that can have the most pitfalls, and requires your salesperson to ask you the most questions in order to ensure that the model you choose fits your needs, and also actually fits inside your home!
Some of the questions your salesperson should be asking you include:
- What style would you like? (French door, single door bottom freezer, side-by-side, or top freezer.)
- How much width and height do you have to work with? (usually 33" or 36" wide, and anywhere from 66' to 72" in height.
- What color would you like? (Stainless steel is still by far the most popular.)
- Full depth or counter depth? (Provided you have the space for a full size, contemporary style refrigerator, you might also have the option of a shallower fridge so that it doesn't stick out into the kitchen as far.)
- Will the fridge fit through the front door? (Don't laugh - today's full-sized fridges are, in the words of one of my customers "Behemoths."
For the sake of this exercise, let's say you have plenty of room, and would like a stainless steel front, French Door refrigerator, with ice and water through the door. After thinking about it for a bit, you decide you would rather have the full depth model because you do not want to lose the storage space counter-depth units take away.
Your salesperson shows you the GE GFE28GYNFS. You take a look at the inside of the unit, note the fingerprint resistant finish, like the layout and finish, and decide this is a good choice for you.
Cooking
Excellent! Moving on to the range. We'll have two big questions to narrow down the field:
- Gas or electric?
- Free standing or slide-in? (Slide-in ranges have a backless, more upscale looking style., They are also generally $300-$700 pricier.)
You decide you like the sleek look of a slide-in range. You like to cook, but you don't consider yourself a cooking "connoisseur" who needs all the "bells and whistles". You choose the GE slide-in JS760SPSS. Your salesperson mentions that this is one of our more popular models, and has the same finish as the fridge
Now, I have found that once the fridge and/or the stove is picked out, the remaining pieces usually fall into place quickly.
Venthoods. Since we're discussing cooking, we'll look next at the choices for matching over-the-range microwaves, which give you a microwave and vent hood built into one appliance.
It seems almost everybody chooses a microvent that matches the rest of their kitchen appliances, especially the range. Your salesperson shows you a couple of different GE models, and after deciding you don't need one of the pricier models that includes a convection oven for normal cooking, you choose the JVM7195SKSS, as you like its oversized turntable and more-powerful-than-average 400 CFM exhaust fan.
And last but not least...the dishwasher: You mention to your salesperson that you don't need a lot of extra features on the dishwasher (you just want it to clean the dishes!). When asked, you decide that you do prefer a stainless interior instead of plastic, and that you like the third rack a lot of models now provide. After looking at a couple of models, you decide on one of our mid-level models, the GE GDT650SYVFS.
You might be wondering at this point: Do all the appliances have to be the same brand? The simple answer is "No, they don't!" And while that is true, I have noticed over the years that most kitchens we sell do tend to be "branded." There are two strong benefits to this:
- The finishes, handles, and fonts will all match.
- REBATE MONEY COMES INTO PLAY - see below!
So now let me show you the price on this suite with the Black November discounts. Below is the Black November price for each product, with regular prices alongside for comparison purposes:
- Fridge GFE28GYMFS Regular $3299 - November $1899
- Range JS760SPSS Regular $1949 - November $999
- Microwave JVM7195SKSS Regular $529 - November $279
- Dishwasher GDT650SYVFS Regular $899 - November $529
Total price: $3726 (a savings of $2970!!)
There may be additional delivery and installation charges, depending on your situation. Also, electric ranges require the purchase of a power cord for $25 (which we will install). (And yes, these product do go on sale at other times during the year, but not to the extent that they are discounted in November.)
All this sounds good, I'm sure. But -- Wait!! There's more!! We have "package" rebates available as a bonus!!
On this particular four-piece kitchen, Manny's offers a $500 rebate in addition to the sale price!! Various rebate programs will also apply to most purchases of two or more pieces in many different brands- (please note that the appliances have to be the same brand for these "suite"rebates to kick in).
I feel obligated to point out that this four-piece suite rebate is NOT available at the so-called Big Box stores! I often call this the "Thank you for buying local" rebate when working with my customers.
And no -- the savings I've illustrated above is by no means unrealistic! Similar savings can be found on many different products, and from many of our manufacturers.
Manny's professional sales staff can help put together a kitchen package with you, and will inform you of any rebates that apply to your purchases.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions if you'd like. You can also speak with a salesperson at any of our ten locations, or - even better!- stop in and visit one of our showrooms.
Finally, two thoughts: Inventory levels are almost back to pre-covid levels, and these November discounts are the most aggressive we've seen in years!
Happy shopping!