Bill’s Appliance finds recession respite in green

Save for a handful of white-collar powers, few industries can claim to have escaped fully unscathed the Great Recession, now a full five years on.

The adage holds especially true for the retail sector, where Bill’s Appliance has been a Portsmouth staple for close to two decades.

“We saw big drop-off during the recession, in service especially,” says Dawn Rheume, Administrator for Bill’s Appliance. “More and more people are going without appliance service or without buying new appliances altogether.”

Such concerns become even more pronounced when you consider the classic American-entrepreneurial template on which Bill’s built its business – a little risky, but nothing if not forward-looking.

For years, Bill’s pivoted around a singular, central service: delivering new appliances for big retail stores throughout the region. Inevitably, many deliveries would end with the customer asking if they'd be willing to take their broken refrigerator or washer off their hands, and preferably to a landfill.

“Our reaction was always, ‘but why,’” recalls Dawn Rheume. “All it needs is a belt here or a plug there – minor stuff that could’ve made it perfectly usable again.”

Recognizing room in the market for a company capable of handling all aspects of the appliance sector, Bill’s Appliance Service was launched in 1995 with the aim of providing quality, recycled appliance at affordable prices – on top of their typical stellar repair and delivery services.

Today, Bill’s boasts a big-name inventory of appliances of all sizes, from microwaves and dishwashers to washers, dryers, refrigerators, and more. What’s more, the folks at Bill’s are so confident in what they sell, they even offer a six months parts and labor warranty.

More recently, Bill's Appliance has expanded to include a new department, specializing specifically in what Rheume likes to call “previously loved furniture”: perfectly usable wares, once doomed for dump or landfill, now given a new lease on life.

The top-notch service, appliances and furniture re-built for the long haul – these will always bee Bill’s bread and butter. Lately, however, they’ve begun to embrace a new, potentially momentum-turning ethos: green.

“What could be more environmentally conscious than giving perfectly usable appliances and furniture a second, productive life?” Rheume posits. “They’re reliable, they’re affordable – what’s not to love?”

Sometimes the fix can be as simply as tightening a loose hinge. Other times, a full-on rewiring is in order. Burners or belts, switches or vents, igniters or thermostats -- whatever the issue, the staff of Bill’s takes palpable pride in getting that Viking, FiveStar or Whirpool up to snuff and running smooth.

“It’s always great when we show people who otherwise might’ve tossed their appliance out that what they have can still be salvaged, and it can still run great,” says Rheume. “Not only does it save them money, but I think it gives them a peace of mind, too.”

Those who might expect to find rows upon rows of tired, off-white appliances peppering Bill’s spacious headquarters are in for a positively jarring, shiny surprise: a bevy of sleek, silver and black appliances less dated than most of the cars in the parking lot.

“Pretty much everything we sell now is energy efficient,” says Rheume. “It’s gotten to the point where EnegyStar is the new standard, so if it’s not efficient, we can’t even sell it anymore.”

Bill’s, like so many of its independent, family-owned business brethren, is cautious to say they’re out of the recessionary woods just yet. Still, if anyone is used to changing with times and meeting the customers where they are – what they want, what they need, and what they believe – it’s the folks at Bill’s.

Learn more about Bill's at www.billsapplianceportsmouth.com

For more info on Green Alliance, go to www.greenalliance.biz