My Biz: Home Appliance Center in Cedar Rapids defies online shifts

CEDAR RAPIDS - Tucked away off a bend in Oakland Road NE, Home Appliance Center and its staff have few quiet moments.

'It's always busy, anymore, with Sears going out of (the appliance) business,” Craig Knapp said. 'They were at least 36 percent of the market. That's trending down fast.”

Sears announced last month it's dropping Whirlpool and its affiliate appliance brands after more than a century. The company's move reflects internet-driven changes in how consumers shop and buy.

But Home Appliance finds itself well-positioned for those same changes.

'Shopping and retailing's changed, but most of the time they don't go online to buy appliances,” Knapp said. 'There's information online, but sales of appliances aren't really through Amazon and those places.”

Instead, Knapp said, consumers use online tools to plan their kitchens and research what's available, then go to brick-and-mortar stores to inspect - and usually purchase - their new appliances.

'They lay out their kitchens, they look at the styles that have changed and the trends that are coming and going,” Knapp said. 'HGTV network supplies a lot of that.”

Still, Knapp said, 'Everything's competitive. There's nobody that's making a high-gross margin.”

Knapp's father, Al, started Cedar Rapids Lumber in 1948, in the midst of the post-World War II building boom. By the early 1960s, the company was building homes and needed to outfit all those kitchens.

'They picked up appliances about 57 years ago,” said Knapp. 'Then in '78 we split off and dad sold Cedar Rapids Lumber.”

It's stayed in the family.

'It's a family-owned business,” said Knapp, 62. 'My brother (Steve) and I and his two sons work here, my wife works here.”

The business has moved twice, most recently in 2010 from a building on Second Avenue SE that's now the site of the city's Central Fire Station. Customers followed - a specialty is working with contractors and remodelers.

Homeowners 'usually have an idea and they work with a kitchen designer, and we work with the kitchen designers to see what they need,” said Knapp.

Lately, that's meant larger appliances of just about every type.

'The sizes have changed quite a bit,” he said. 'Larger tub sizes for washer and dryers, tall tubs in dishwashers, bigger refrigerators. More people are putting hood fans above their cooking appliances like the '50s and '60s used to be, and the microwave is going down below in the cabinet, so it's not above the range.”

From stainless steel, Knapp said local buyers are turning to black stainless to complement white cabinets.

'I think styling's a little bit more contemporary than it used to be,” he said. 'Styling is all pushed by Home and Garden (TV), and the trends you see in these kitchen and bath magazines.”

The push for energy efficiency has led to more complex electronics, Knapp said. Staff members help customers cope with new programmable devices.

'Information's critical,” Knapp said. 'Appliances don't work the same as they did years ago, and so for people with an old appliance it's a matter of getting them trained on how the new ones work.”

l Know a business in operation for more than a year that would make for an interesting 'My Biz”? Contact michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com.