"YOU PAY WHAT WE PAY" Really?

ADVERTISING: A form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products or services or support political candidates or ideas.

And there you have it. A definition for the ages. So what does it mean when you read a car company or some other form of retailer is giving you their hard earned profits by offering you to purchase their products for the EXACT same money their employees pay for these items? I have no idea. And neither does the consumer. For all you and I know, that means sticker price, or it means that you are buying the item for the exact same cost that the company advertising the sale is paying for it. But you don't know. You could be paying somewhere in the middle, but does that constitute a deal? Or even a sale worth an entire page in the Newspaper?

Let's see exactly what's being said. "YOU PAY WHAT WE PAY*." Notice anything strange? How about that little asterisk? Well what does that asterisk mean? Here it is in their words, not mine...

"Employee discount excludes: Delivery and installation, Service Contracts, Dealers, Prior Sales, Gift cards, Internet Sales, Computers, Monitors, Printers, Cellular Phones, Prepaid cards, Video Games Consoles, Apple, Bose, Select Audio and Video, Designer Appliances, and they reserve the right to limit the quantities you buy."

HUH?

Let's see, "YOU PAY WHAT WE PAY". Really?

Look, if Gringer and sons wanted to advertise our appliances in such a manner we would. But we can't. And apparently neither can they. So why do it? Besides who is "WE"? I would imagine "We" represents their entire company. I would imagine that employee means anyone who collects a paycheck from the company advertising the sale. Doesn't that also mean the principals of the company? Are you really paying what they pay for their appliances? NO YOU ARE NOT.

We here at Gringer's just want to service you correctly. To the best of our ability. To the best that this financial crisis will allow us to. We want your business, but we want it honestly, and with integrity, and with respect and reliability. These words mean more to us than just mis-informing you about some sale that limits nearly every item we sell to exactly the opposite of what we advertise.

The Gringer name has been in business for over 98 years and those words are not exclusive to anyone, and neither is their meaning.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, whoever and wherever you are.

Louis Giogaia

Store Manager

Gringer and Sons

lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

Buying a dishwasher

The above photo reflects a stainless steel Blomberg Dishwasher, model DWT14240. Basic price, $729.00. Expensive? I don't think so. Not based on some of the prices for dishwashers I have seen out there in my extensive experience. Some companies are charging $2300.00 for their dishwashers. Not that they are not worth it, because they are worth every penny. But this Blomberg is in my apartment and I know it is Quiet, efficient, and priced right in the middle of the rest of them.

But I know all about dishwashers and you don't. No knock on you. Who the hell wants to know anymore about a dishwasher than, it is quiet, efficient, and priced right in the middle? Especially in this downturned economy.

I digress. How is my consumer going to find the right dishwasher? When someone walks into my shop and says I want the cheapest dishwasher you have in stainless steel, what they have really said is; "I don't want to be here. I'm really pissed my dishwasher is broken, and please just get me something so I can go to the Hamptons this weekend and hang out with Lindsay Lohan."

But my job is to make sure they only call me back to buy yet another product for their kitchen and not to revisit the dishwasher . So I ask them a series of questions that helps them to understand that it is not that simple. Before you come in, here are the questions. This way we both save some time and you can get back to hanging out with Lindsay Lohan. Yikes!

1- What brand do you have in their now?

2- How old is the one that is there now?

3- What size, 24"wide or 18"wide?

4- Do you want a stainless steel interior as well?

5- How often do you run the dishwasher?

6- Is the kitchen ope to the rest of the apartment?

7- I the dishwasher under a sink or next to the sink?

8- Does the dishwasher currently occupying the space have a panel on it?

9- Do want hidden controls or the control panel showing?

10- And finally, could you please send Lindsay Lohan a double whopper with cheese. She's way too thin.

I hope these questions help you to understand the dynamic of the dishwasher in the kitchen as it relates to your life, to yiour decor, and to your sanity. Good Luck and Buy the BLOMBERG.

Bottled water: Convenient Yes,with a very un-friendly ECO footprint

I USUALLY NEVER EVER just write a blog that is from some other source. I take the time to read, evaluate and re-write the information so that our customers can put things toward a practical application in their own lives. However, it is raining, I am sick and this is just way to informative for me to do that with. In my opinion, and I have to say, this article has reaffirmed it for me, Filtered water is the way to go.

This information was provided to me by Richard Loflin, CEO of WaterX, and absolutely the most hands on CEO of any company I have ever met. His web site is http://www.waterx.com/; and for our townhouse owners and suburban home owners, whole house reverse osmosis water filters such as the WH5 with its 100,000 gallon rating and maintenance free for 24 months at $3500.00 is one of the safest, most ECO-Friendly things you can do for your family, this planet, and possibly generations to come. It provides clean filtered water at a rate of 15 gallons per minute and removes, Asbestos, dirt and rust, sulphur, arsenic,algae,pesticide and chemicals, heavy metals,mercury,odor and color, chlorine and a few others I have trouble spelling. The lead photo of this blog says it all.

Bottled water uses 2000 times more energy from ecoGizmo (270 articles)
March 1, 2009 New research from the Pacific Institute estimates that bottled water is up to 2000 times more energy-intensive than tap water. Similarly, bottled water that requires long-distance transport is far more energy-intensive than bottled water produced and distributed locally. Indeed, when all the sums were done, it seems the annual consumption of bottled water in the U.S. in 2007 required the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil—roughly one-third of a percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption.

The article, “Energy implications of bottled water” by researchers Peter H. Gleick and Heather Cooley, is the first peer-reviewed analysis of its kind and appears in the February 2009 edition of Environmental Research Letters.

“As bottled water use continues to expand around the world, there is growing interest in the environmental, economic, and social implications of that use, including concerns about waste generation, proper use of groundwater, hydro logic effects on local surface and groundwater, economic costs, and more. But a key concern is how much energy is required to produce and use bottled water,” said article co-author Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. “It turns out the answer is, a lot.” The authors note that a single estimate of the energy footprint of bottled water is not possible due to differences among water sources, bottling processes, transportation costs, and other factors. Gleick and Cooley calculate the energy requirements for various stages in bottled water production, including the energy to manufacture the plastic bottles, process the water and the bottles, and transport and cool the final product.

Combining the energy intensities for these stages, the analysis finds that producing bottled water requires between 5.6 and 10.2MJ per liter—as much as 2000 times the energy cost of producing tap water. The authors further estimate that to satisfy global demands, the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil per year is used just to produce the bottles, primarily made of PET plastic, almost all of which are currently made from virgin, not recycled, material.

For water transported short distances, the energy requirements of bottled water are dominated by the energy to produce these plastic bottles. Long-distance transport, however, can lead to energy costs comparable to, or even higher than, the energy to produce the bottle. In the article, the authors calculate the energy costs of three different scenarios for a bottle of water consumed in Southern California—a locally produced bottle and bottled water from both France and Fiji transported to the region.

“With the U.S. consumption of bottled water exceeding 33 billion liters a year, and with intensifying efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, these data should help identify ways to reduce the energy costs of bottled water and may help consumers themselves make more environmentally sustainable choices,” said co-author Heather Cooley, senior research associate at the Pacific Institute. Based in Oakland, California, the Pacific Institute is a nonpartisan research institute that works to create a healthier planet and sustainable communities. Through interdisciplinary research and partnering with stakeholders, the Institute produces solutions that advance environmental protection, economic development, and social equity—in California, nationally, and internationally.

Luigi Giogaia

Store Manager

lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

How to keep your business moving forward.

I don't understand what retailers are thinking about. How is it possible that they have not yet understood that customer service is the one and only thing that separates them from their kindred? It's as if they fell asleep at the wheel and instead of waking up as the car careens from pillar to post, they sleep comfortably waiting for their inevitable death. It's disturbing to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, Everybody falls asleep at the wheel. But hello!!! Wake up and get control of the very vehicle that takes you from point "A" to point "B".

By the way, what the heck am I talking about? I'll tell you. I am talking about simple things that separate you from the pack. About standing out in the crowd. About taking charge of your destiny. Let me explain:

"Joe the plumber" walks into your place and he asks for a very popular product that does not happen to be in stock at your suppliers warehouse. Yet "Joe the plumber" needs it ASAP. What do you do? Anyone? I know what to do. I call one of my competitors on the phone, probably a big box store, tell them I am "Joe the Plumber" give them my warehouses name and number and have them deliver it there. I broker a deal for the best price based on the prices I have available to me and make that company match it. I then get "Joe the Plumber" name and address and when the item gets delivered to my warehouse, I deliver it to him the next day.

Free thinking. Out of the box thinking on the fly. Survival of the fittest. If I keep doing that then everybody is happy and I make myself a couple of bucks. But most of all, I make "Joe the Plumber" happy, and he becomes my customer FOR LIFE. Why? Because we get it done.

Senator John McCain walks into my store and starts talking about the appliances he wants to buy for his home. But his home is in Arizona, not New York. Who the heck wants to waste their time with this guy, right? WRONG. I take him through everything. Refrigerator, dishwasher, ventilation, wine cooler, cooking, the whole works. He loves it. Then I tell him, "Look John, I can get this stuff to you all you have to do is e-mail me with the proposal I just gave you and BAM! It's in the house." He says, "You can truck this all the way to Arizona?" I tell him yes. Then I get his address, call some random Continental trucking company, Give them John McCain's address and the items going and get a price for delivery. Guess what? John McCain saves the tax on a $20,000.00 sale and he pays the delivery which is inevitably less expensive then the tax and delivery he would pay in Arizona. Who's your Daddy now Johnny boy?

So what I am saying is that GETTING IT DONE, is the only way to keep your mind, your motivation and your business fresh. NO sale is too small, or too big.

As General Patton once said, "Fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity." Keep moving forward.

Luigi Giogaia

Store Manager

lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

Wolf Cooking Demonstration: BAKE. BROIL, ROAST

This Saturday February 21st 2009 Our Wolf Representative Kevin Goldman will be showcasing his cooking prowess by using the wolf product in our store and Baking Broiling and Roasting several different foods in the prestigious Wolf electric Convection Oven. All of you are invited and Kevin is definitely a good cook. So join us between the hours of 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM for some tasty instruction on an exceptional product.

The Art of the Delivery

So I have a friend who bought a really expensive couch. As the couch is being delivered into her elevator by a SINGLE delivery man the alarms go off in her head. "Oh my God. This guy is going to absolutely ruin my couch. And I am absolutely going to kill him!"
As you can begin to recognize, this is truly a NYC story.
The delivery guy, alone and struggling gets the couch into the elevator on the lobby floor and is now pinned inside the elevator behind the couch and trying to maneuver it out of the elevator.
Things are getting worse for my friend. She has veins popping out where veins should be hidden. I can't say I blame her either. Sending one man to deliver a couch in a Manhattan elevator is beyond stupid.
So there he is, banging the several thousand dollar custom made couch on the sides and generally using it as a wedge to keep the door open on the elevator. Never mind that the door keeps slamming shut on the couch because that is what elevator doors do.
So after about thirty seconds of this ridiculousness, she stops him mid screw up and informs the gentleman that he may not make it out of the building alive if the couch isn't taken back to whence it came, repaired and re-delivered by TWO men the next time.
Seeing his opportunity to escape alive, the man closes the elevator without saying a word and disappears into the night.
Here's the thing: We don't do that. We send the right amount of men to do the job every time. Some jobs are tighter than others. If there are any issues at a delivery when our guys get there and they are not prepared they will call us and in some cases if the situation is too convoluted, they will cancel the delivery right then and there. While this makes no-one happy, it is to the benefit of the client, the appliance, the delivery company, the insurance companies, and to Gringer and sons.
I guess what I am saying is that the "art of the delivery" is based on the information we get from our clients, and the more accurate you are the more successful our deliveries will be. Tell us about stairs. Even though it will cost you more, it will not cost as much as when we get there and have to return another day because we are ill prepared. If we suggest a survey, please don't roll your eyes at us, it will help protect your appliance and it will help protect your home and both our sanity. And if you inspect your appliance after it is delivered and sign the receipt with all the proper annotations, you will be protecting yourself and your appliance should anything be wrong .
So PLEASE, whatever you do, be home to receive your product; because leaving it in the hands of someone who does not have a vested interest in your home, your money, or your kitchen is just not conducive to a successful and flawless delivery.

Luigi Giogaia
lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

What does the holiday season mean to us?

The holiday season is wrought with commercialism. Stress is the order of the day for about two weeks. Money is thrown around like confetti at a parade down the "Canyon of Heroes". What are we doing? Who is getting what? How much did I just spend in the mall? Should I buy batteries for all this stuff or is that the kids parents responsibility? Its insane!
But often, somewhere in the last days as the moments wind down and your hat is on crooked and you've lost a glove, and the scarf you were wearing on your neck is now on your waist as a belt, you take a seat on a bench at the mall with your eight bags of junk and you look around and smile. Because you can't help it. Because you're done shopping. Because you've made everybody else in your life happy for one day and you really thought about it this year.
As you sit up all night before your holiday starts, wrapping presents, you imagine little Susie in that adorable outfit you got her from Baby Gap. Then there is Timmy's video game, and your Sister's pasta maker. All wrapped with love and care and with a big smile and an aching back. Tape in your hair and half the bag of bows have no sticky tape where sticky tape should be. But it is done, and you are proud and weirdly satisfied.
You get to your family's house and start opening presents and handing them out and taking pictures and eating and drinking and much to your surprise, smiling. You're actually enjoying yourself and somehow everything is great and all the thoughts of commercialism and traffic and piling on the pounds, and spending, just melt away.
They melt away because at its core, the holiday season is about love, and sharing and togetherness. These are the Holiday wishes that we at Gringer and Sons are sending to you. Hoping that you are safe and satisfied.

Luigi Giogaia
Store Manager
lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

BE AWARE: Price increases for January 2009

This is the easiest and possibly saddest blog I have written all year!

There are going to be price increases in
January 2009 from nearly every one of the appliance manufacturers. If you want to save 3 to 20% buy your appliances now to avoid the up charges.

Now that I have freed myself of the guilt of it all. The ball is in your court. Please do not be surprised by the price increases. Tell your friends if they are doing their kitchens. Be a pal and let them know that the prices will be higher .

p.s.: Don't forget our Appliance Outlet at 521 Commack Road in Deer Park L.I. 631-865-6198
Where the best deals on high end manufacturer's closeouts, discontinued stock, or overstocked items and like new display items can be had.

Luigi Giogaia
lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com

There are other ways to save money you know...

Sometimes when you walk in a showroom you can be a little intimidated. There are usually two factors, the fear you will not be able to afford the appliances on display, and the fear that you will be disappointed by the people helping you. There are way more anxieties than that, but usually those are the top two.
How should a retailer who is selling what you want, get you to buy what they are selling based on the statement above?
Easy. They should listen to you.
What?!
That's right. They should listen to you and then they should repeat back the main body of your statement and then they should show you the things you are asking to see.
But is that it?
No!
They should also ask some very basic questions. They should try to see if the appliances you are choosing are actually going to work in your home. An appliance sales representative should ALWAYS ask you if your building will allow you to vent out. They should always ask you about the electrical load in your apartment, and they should never forget to tell you that there are additional fees should deliveries become like opening a box of cracker jacks where instead of one surprise, you find one too many surprises.
But most of all a sales representative should be able to assess your entire goal in monetary terms. They should be able to determine if the items you are going to WANT are necessarily the items you NEED. They should offer alternatives, even if they are less expensive, because they fit your personal needs. They should be unafraid to say, "Hey wait a minute folks...Here is another alternative you might want to consider." Not everyone realizes that there are products out there that can be easily substituted or even better, products made by one company for a bunch of other companies. Like the Jenn air french door refrigerator. They make that thing for everyone under the Whirlpool umbrella of appliances. Yet some of the models are more expensive simply because of the name on the appliance.
Ridiculous.
Give us a chance to assess your needs and even suggest alternatives.
You could never go wrong with too much information from the right people.

Professional Appliance Outlet Grand Opening

"The Names You Dream Of At The Prices You Can Afford"

That's right. We have opened an appliance warehouse at 521 Commack Road, Deer Park Long Island, NY 11729. Give our experienced sales staff a call at 631-865-6198. Adding their personal touch, they can explain things to you (the average homeowner) or they can speak contractor lingo with the best of them. Our staff can spew facts or wax philosophical on how to keep your appliances looking and performing like new.
Ask Them about our exclusive deals on Subzero, Wolf, Miele, Gaggenau, Viking, and a slew of other high end appliances not offered anywhere else for the prices we offer them.
Gringers new appliance warehouse will have them delivered and installed for one great price, and we will remove and junk your old appliances as well. You can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Contractors can get the deals they are looking for that they are now being denied by everyone else because of the tightening economy.
For Example:
A panel ready Subzero 42" side by side refrigerator freezer has a regular everyday sell price at ANY authorized retailer. No matter where you shop, that is the price you will see for it. But we can offer it to you as an open model in perfect or near perfect condition for much less.
Ridiculous.
A 30" electric Wolf Double wall oven originally sells for an everyday price of over six thousand dollars. You can have it from us in perfect or near perfect condition for much less.
Contractors who want to furnish a spec apartment or home can do it for virtually our cost. Homeowners looking to save on their kitchens in this tight economy, here is your chance.
Call us here at the store or call our new warehouse. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Luigi Giogaia
lgiogaia@gringerandsons.com