The latest pandemic shortage? Appliances, experts say. And repairs are taking weeks

From cans to coins to furniture, the coronavirus pandemic has done a number on supply chains, causing shortages in myriad industries.

The latest? Home appliances.

“It’s crazy times we’re in right now, where the availability of appliances is really, really poor,” Michael Riegelmann, manager of Riegelmann’s Appliance in Oregon, told KGW8. “Some [appliance] categories are non-existent.”

Riegelmann’s family has managed the store for three generations and says the industry-wide shortage is unprecedented, according to the outlet.

At the onset of the pandemic, freezers were especially tough to come by as many began stockpiling food, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

“They sold out almost overnight,” Jason Duong, director of marketing for the Colorado-based Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom, told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

Refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers followed suit in the months that followed, according to the newspaper.

“When this pandemic hit, appliance sales went through the roof,” Jeff McBride, an appliance specialist at Lowe’s in Ohio, told the Toledo Blade. “Because of demand for specific appliances, all the manufacturers could not keep up with demand. They took whatever product they were getting orders for, and they said they’ll start making only them.”

Sacha Barnes with FBS Factory Builder Stores in Texas said it takes a minimum four weeks to receive appliances that are listed as “in stock” from manufacturers, KXAN reported.

She attributed the shortage in part to an uptick in home renovation projects.

Experts say supply chain disruptions are also to blame. Coronavirus closures at appliance manufacturing plants — and those that make parts for appliances — backed up production, the Dispatch reported.

Kent Homoelle, vice president of JAE Company in Ohio, says his remodeling firm has been placing orders six to 10 weeks in advance in the hope of getting appliances on time, according to the newspaper.

Richard Merhige, however, saw what was ahead for the appliance industry.

At the onset of the pandemic, Merhige — who owns an independent appliance store in New York state — noticed appliance factories were closing and used his savings to bolster his inventory, WCBS.

“I took every dime I had, every resource I had and I made it a mission in my life that I’m going to resolve my issue for them in delivering an appliance. How could that be so important? But, it was,” he told the outlet.

Merhige stored $1 million worth of appliances in a warehouse — a wager that paid off.

“The phones were absolutely ringing off the wall,” co-owner Vicky Merhige told WCBS. “It was just absolute pandemonium.”

Repair times also affected

Coronavirus closures and increased demand for appliances has also caused a shortage in parts for repairs — as well as in man power, KXAN reported.

Taylor Ross needed repairs on appliances at a rental home he owns in Texas, but it took longer than expected to get a repair person to the property.

“Even though they had the part, it took almost two weeks, a week and a half to get the repair guy out there because they said our repair guys are just so backed up,” Ross told KXAN.

Jeff Miceli runs Appliance Tec, a repair company in New York, and said his team used to respond to repair calls in two to three days, WHAM reported. Now, it’s a week-and-a-half.

“It’s not your grandfather’s washing machine anymore,” Miceli told the outlet, adding that qualified technicians are hard to come by. “These machines are a lot more complex than you expect with lots of circuit boards, sensors. Now, they’re connected to the internet.”

Daniel Pidgeon, CEO of Sears Home Services, told NBC that demand for people who can repair appliances is overwhelming.

“Right now we have a shortfall of 1,000 technicians that we have that we’re hiring,” Pidgeon told the outlet. “It really is something unprecedented.”

Heather Dyer-Yoder operates Dyer Repair Academy in Texas and runs a two-week training course to become a certified appliance repair tech, NBC reported. Many of her students are people who lost jobs in the retail and restaurant industries.

“I have employers calling me weekly,” said Dyer-Yoder. “’Do you have somebody I can hire?’ all over the country. All of my students get jobs, all of them get hired before they leave.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2020 at 2:00 PM with the headline "The latest pandemic shortage? Appliances, experts say. And repairs are taking weeks."