Majap Sales Fall 5% On TWICE Top 100

Downturn accompanies second full year of depressed appliance demand

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 6/15/2009

NEW YORK — Retail sales of major appliances fell nearly 5 percent for the industry's largest dealers last year, according to the TWICE Top 100 Major Appliance Retailers Report.

The annual survey of leading major appliance merchants, prepared with market research partner The Stevenson Company, showed white-goods sales slipping 4.7 percent to $23.9 billion for the ranked retailers, compared with a 6.8 percent decline in total industry sales at retail, to $25.8 billion.

The downturn came with the second full year of depressed major appliance demand, as the ailing housing market and increased economic uncertainty in the back half of 2008 took their tolls.

That the Top 100 retailers held their declines to less than 5 percent speaks to a number of factors, including new store openings, pockets of housing market stability, comparisons to a weak 2007, and assisted sales floors that can trade up customers to higher-priced products like three-door refrigerators and front-load laundry.