Best Places to Buy Large Appliances
A big regional retailer tops CR’s survey-based ratings of 23 stores and websites to buy (and bargain for) big appliances
For the 14th year, the giant Chicagoland retailer Abt is Consumer Reports’ top-rated retailer when it comes to shopping for a large appliance. Next in line is another regional retailer, RC Willey, which sells furniture, electronics, appliances, mattresses, and other home products through more than a dozen stores in California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.
These stores, as well as independent retailers and websites, earned top marks in the most recent Consumer Reports survey of appliance retailers, conducted from the winter of 2023 through the spring of 2024. The survey responses were from 9,721 CR members who shared their experiences shopping for 12,970 large appliances between January 2023 and May 2024. Overall, 17 of the 23 major appliance retailers received favorable ratings, and none were judged unfavorable.
The survey also included responses from 13,147 members reporting on 16,619 small-appliance purchases made during the same time period. Among small-appliance retailers, 8 out of 19 were rated favorably, with just two (Candian Tire and Menards) judged unfavorably overall.
