Rice's Appliance Turns Focus To Customer Service

After owning and operating DeSears Appliance & Home Entertainment in Bradenton for 14 years from 1994-2008, it’s safe to say John Rice Sr. knows a little bit about the appliance business.

What he also knows is that while product knowledge goes a long way, it is exemplary customer service that really makes a business shine.

With this idea in mind, the Bradenton resident of 40 years returned to the former DeSears location in 2010 to open , a major-brand appliance distribution center with an emphasis on strong community ties.

Beginning in 1994, Rice operated DeSears from its 14^th Street West location. During his time with the company, DeSears consolidated more than 20 stores into four regional locations in Bradenton, Palmetto, Sarasota and Venice. In 2008, Rice left the business and sold the Bradenton location to another company, Appliance World.

In the struggling economy, Appliance World only stayed afloat for less than two years. When the company went bankrupt, Rice and his sons saw an opportunity to return and breathe life back into the location that had been specializing in appliance sales for more than 15 years.

“He saw a big opportunity in the marketplace,” said Rice's son, John Rice Jr., who manages day-to-day operations at the store. “Bradenton no longer had a large independent retail appliance establishment, so it was a need that we returned to fill.”

After a thorough makeover, Rice’s Appliance & Home Entertainment re-opened its doors in April of 2010, hiring back a large number of staff members who had worked for Rice at DeSears.

“It’s really great having the same location because there’s no change of direction for our customers,” said Rice Jr. “There are a lot of familiar faces. We have a lot of customers who return and say ‘Oh, I remember you from DeSears,’ which is really nice.”

He went on to say that the employees who have stayed with the business throughout the years have been a vital component of its success.

“Take our delivery guy, Cory Smith, for example,” he said. “Hands down, best delivery guy in town. He’s been working with us for 10 years, and I think that we get more calls and compliments for him than for the store itself. It’s people like him who really define our business.”

Rice’s Appliance & Home Entertainment takes a hands-on approach to appliance sales, but leaves behind the “pressure tactics” that are often employed by sales floor representatives in some of the bigger chains.

“We don’t use any ‘What will it take to get you to purchase this today?’ tactics,” Rice Jr. explained. “There is no pressure for the customer to walk out of our store with an appliance until they’re ready to do so.”

The younger Rice, whose office is actually located directly on the sales floor, added that the store’s hands-on, “one customer at a time” policy is what really separates the business from its big chain predecessors.

“We founded this store on a sense of community, honesty, integrity, and mutual respect for our customers. We’re a smaller operation, and that allows us to be much more in touch with our customers,” he said.

The sales floor at Rice’s is set up with working models that allow the staff to do hands-on demonstrations and guide customers through the ins and outs of the appliances they are interested in purchasing.

“We cover it all from soup to nuts,” said Rice Jr. “From sale to delivery and installation, we do it all. And to top that off, we guarantee the best price in town.”

The store even pays its customers the old-fashioned courtesy of sending a “thank you” card after each purchase, as well as a follow-up phone call after installation to make sure that the customer is satisfied.

“It’s true that the economy still isn’t great right now,” he said, “but by taking a grassroots approach, we’ve developed a strong sense of loyalty amongst our customers. It puts us in a good position to take advantage of the economic growth that everyone is crossing their fingers for in the future.”

Rice Jr. explained that the busy season in the appliance industry runs from Labor Day through Easter, and then slows down during the summer. During that downtime, he said, employees work together to figure out how they can provide even better service during the upcoming busy season.

“Our employees are very in tune with the industry,” he said, “so training takes place virtually every day. Whenever there’s downtime, we’re learning. Summer gives us an opportunity to take a breath, regroup, and figure out how we can get better and add more value to our customers’ experience.”

He explained that another element that separates Rice’s Appliance & Home Entertainment from DeSears is the employee involvement in store operations.

“With us, the sales guys are actively involved in everything. At DeSears, there were so many various levels of management that their ideas rarely made it to the owner’s ears. Here, they do.”

The elder Rice has lived in Bradenton for roughly 40 years, and his sons were born and raised locally. The family’s close ties to the community are evident not only in their business mentality, but in their altruism as well.

Local charity is just as important as business to the Rice family, whose favorite organizations include the Steve Mills Foundation, the , and the . Rice Jr. said that his family is also a big proponent of the .

“Those are the organizations that we donate to most frequently,” he said, “but whenever a charity approaches us and strikes a chord with us, we make a donation – usually monetary, but sometimes we donate televisions or other products.”

The younger Rice said that business in the current economy has been challenging, but he is confident that the store’s competitive prices and renewed focus on sterling customer service will contribute to its success in a market where less community-oriented ventures like Appliance World have failed.

“We’re not breaking any records or anything, but we’re doing well considering the economy. It’s all about that grassroots approach.”