Open for Business: Delaware Appliance supplying essential products during pandemic

FRANKFORD, Del. – 47 ABC is continuing our coverage of businesses that are open and ready for business throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. One of those businesses is Delaware Appliance, located in Frankford. And while they’re open, business is not what it used to be.

“Sales are way down, business is very, very slow, but this is the best way to do it right now,” President Thom Young said. “This is our peak period, this is the busiest time of the year for us normally since we’re very close to the beach, we do a lot of work with re-modelers and homeowners and people that own condos on the beach.”

But things are different now, and thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation, people have been forced to stay home.
But being required to stay home means a lot more people are relying on everyday appliances. So much so, that some are even completely sold out.

“Freezers are essentially gone,” Young said. “When the big rush came and everybody had to go to the grocery store and buy everything off of the shelf, then they needed a freezer to put them in, we sold out of freezers and so did everybody else in the country.”

Now, with no more freezers to offer, Young say business has shifted to another appliance that is being heavily relied on in these times.

“Really the big thing we’re seeing is washing machines, people have to have their washing machines, they can’t go to a laundromat, they’re not open and it’s not a place you’d want to go,” he explained.

Young says things have shifted to mostly over-the-phone business, making the store inside a ghost town.

“We have not seen more than one person at a time for more than two weeks,” he said.

But that, for the customers who do make a trip to the store, his employees are working hard to keep everything safe and sanitary.

“In the store, everything is kept clean, everything is disinfected every day, we’re keeping the distance, it’s really not much of a problem at all,” Young said.

Young says a big portion of their business right now is coming in the form of at-home repairs. He says that, at a time like this, it’s essential that refrigerators, freezers, and other appliances inside your home are in working condition to keep you safe.