LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fair warning. If you plan to buy a kitchen appliance anytime soon you may have to wait weeks for the delivery.

What You Need To Know

  • Tough to buy applainces during COVID

  • Suppliers aren't making as many products

  • Getting supplies to make appliances in high demand

  • Business owners doing what they can to help customers

“People will come in and we can barely get it unboxed and on the floor and they are like, we'll take it, " said Larry Fink of Bonnycastle Appliance and TV in Louisville.

Bonnycastle, like many retailers, is having a difficult time keeping up with demand and it's not their fault. Big manufacturers like Maytag and GE are simply not making as many ranges and refrigerators as the companies were pre-COVID. 

“Their suppliers, people who supply the steel, the components to build these appliances, are not going to factories," Fink explained. 

He's owned Bonnycastle since 1985. The lower production numbers can also be attributed to fewer people working on the assembly line. 

"They also have to do social distancing. They can’t have as many people on the line. So you’re not going to be able to produce as much," Link adds.

The result is a 6-12 week wait on some makes and models. In the meantime, some customers are buying what's on the floor. 

“I haven’t seen anything like this in the 35 years I’ve owned the business." Ranges and refrigerators aren't exactly superfluous items so Links says his store does what it can to help customers manage the longest waits for delivery he's ever seen. 

“We do everything we can to accommodate our customers. We even have a few loaners. It may be a small refrigerator but it will get them by.”