There is ALWAYS another sale around the corner. I think the days of "seasonal sales" are gone with the advent of internet shopping and easily-available price comparisons. Sears is constantly having a sale of one kind or another, and typically other retailers will match a price you've seen elsewhere. It is important to keep in mind that the clock starts ticking on most appliances upon delivery, not upon installation. If you receive your appliances too early, you will lose out on some of the warranty period, which is typically one year. There have been a number of posts here from people who have done just that, and their appliance breaks, say, in Month 10 of usage, but actually Month 13 of ownership and they are out of luck. Occasionally you will find a store that will hold the appliance you've chosen until you are ready for delivery. Unfortunately, since the recession, we have seen posts from people who've had a store hold their appliances, only for the store to go out of business, and bye-bye appliances. IMO, not worth the risk, when you can just wait to buy your appliances until you are ready for installation. Also, if you take delivery before you are ready for installation, where will you store it that is safe and dry and won't be in your way? We have also seen posts from people who've stored their appliances in their garage, only to have it knocked on its side by workmen, gotten wet, or even stolen. Also, you will find that your kitchen design, and your appliance choices, will evolve over time. If you buy now, and then change your mind, say, from a 30" range to a 36" range, or from a side-by-side fridge to a french-door fridge, or from a range to a walloven/cooktop combo, or any number of changes you may have, well you are stuck with the appliance choice you picked X months ago, before you knew you wanted/needed XY&Z.

First off, every store is a little different, even within national chains, for customer service. As others stated, the Mom and Pop local appliance stores typically live by word of mouth of customer satisfaction, and so they tend to give the best, but comes with the cavet that they may be financially the most at risk in the new "brick-less" retail scheme the world seems headed to. I can't remember the last time I saw a new single, stand alone appliance store open up, but I can remember about 10-15 folding locally in recent years. As for warranties, if you buy an extended version, and that entity is at risk of financial failure, you will be way down the creditors list when they liquidate the business, and the assuming owner, if somebody actually buys the business, typically will not back previous owner sold extended warranties. So if you buy a manufacturer's backed extended warranty from a company like LG, Samsung, Miele, etc, you are probably OK. If you buy the retailers extended warranty, beware. I have bought exactly one extended warranty in my life, provided by the retailer, and the business failed 9 months later, so there was no warranty in the end. The good news is I bought a brand that was a tad more expensive, and the extra expense paid off with no need to exercise the now useless warranty. I bought three (fridge, range, and dishwasher) from local appliance stores, mainly because the chains had few models that met with what I was after and would deliver that day in the case of the fridge. In the case of the range, I was interested in additional discounts that a scratch and dent may offer that I could not get from the national chains. Experience OK except for noted local chain financial failure. As far as big box guys, I had a favorable experience buying a microwave from Lowe's which I researched on-line comparing what they offered against many other retailers. Once we knew the model or models we were after, Lowe's was easy to work with to order what we wanted, and it arrived earlier than they indicated, in about 4 days instead of promised 10 days. Not every appliance you can live without for a period of time, but a microwave was one that I could, and I saved quite a bit by shopping extensively and allowing it to be ordered from the factory, if need be. I have had one unfavorable experience from a big box appliance retailer, BestBuy, many years ago (late 1990s), but they basically delivered a used range (burnt pizza inside) for a range that was purchased "new". To defend BestBuy, they did come and take the range away and gave me my money back, and apologized for the error. Nonetheless, they are off the list of appliance retailers I do business with. Isolated case, but just shows they did not have good checks on inventory control. Laundryvet

FWIW, I have bought certain items from ABT but they were not the lowest price when I was purchasing all my appliances recently - even with the nonpayment of sales tax factored in which the Supreme Court recently ruled on. Perhaps if one lives in Chicago and ABT is the local supplier, it's different. When you are buying as many fairly expensive appliances as you are, you have tremendous bargaining power and will probably get a better overall deal from a local supplier. I got pricing from a true local appliance store (one store) and two small local chains and one national chain (Pacific) and was able to negotiate a great deal with Pacific. As I posted, they price matched everything plus threw in free installation and delivery. Installation was theoretically not insignificant for me - wall oven; microwave drawer; hood vent; water line for refrigerator; washer and dryer; dishwasher.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. The principal (or the head of the guidance department) will know who is trustworthy, and they can tell you what is a fair wage too. They can even email you photos of bunting decorations for their proms, etc decor and tell you who the students were who were on those decoration committees that might be interested in looking for work. This would not be the right time for you to fall off a ladder, or strain your back from overwork. This would also be helpful for you for later on too, as you might find the strong young man with his friends to rearrange your furniture (for a higher wage) as you change your mind a few times, to mow your lawn, to shovel your snow, and maybe even do some of the gardening. (Just be sure to check the location of the in ground irrigation, the water lines and all other utilities and clearly mark them before you give anyone a shovel.) The energy of older teens is awesome, and their work ethic and ambition should be encouraged, too.