I've found great deals online at Elite Appliance: www.eliteappliance.com They also just happen to have a showroom in Dallas that I was able to visit. So far so good on customer service, even though we haven't bought anything yet, I'm receiving multiple quotes on the kinds of items we are in the market for. The particular rep who was helping us asked us all the right questions, heard my questions and concerns, explained brands I wasn't familiar with, and tried to steer me in a general right direction for our wants and needs. Plus they offer all brands from high-end to not so and all the prices seem to be as reasonable as I can find. The showroom also had floor models and open box deals that were discounted even more. Hope that helps!

Update: Everything sold. I can't even believe it. I posted the whole kitchen and appliances on craigslist yesterday and someone picked up every single piece of it this morning. Amazing, I would never have thought! The number of emails I got for the stove especially was astounding (for anyone in this position in the future, I asked $1350 for the range & $500 for the hood or $1600 for both), but it was so much easier for me just to sell it all as a job lot.... AND he went to the contractor's house with his own truck and guys and picked it all up. I didn't even have to meet him. I am very happy with how this has turned out, so thanks so much for the encouragement, I was feeling so overwhelmed by it, and now it's done! Thanks again folks!

Best Buy and high-end appliance dealer Pacific Sales are owned by the same corporate parent. In some high-end areas they don't want to open a brand new Pacific Sales therefore they are creating a seperate store within a store to sell high-end appliances within Best Buy. In Costa Mesa CA Best Buy they have been selling Miele, Wolf, Subzero etc for years. BTW I have seen more than one Wall St analyst say both Best Buy and Sears will be finished within the decade. Internet on the one hand and Costco,Lowes,and Home Depot on the other are killing them. If they go belly up don't blame high end applainces :)

Harry - I DO get it. Expansion and growth are a rarity in a flat or down ecomnomy, even for the Ultra Wealthy. You must have made a fine professor, as you have macro economics down pat. I DO get it, the net worth of the majority of the world's wealthiest people is down, so is the majority of everyone's. Does this mean they flee to a financial bunker and stop spending? Heck no, some do , just like some of the merely rich do, just like some of the middle class does, and just like the everyone else. However, many are still out there doing things normally some are even bargain buying like never before: I didn't make up Rolls' or Gulfstream's #'s people are buying them! Even in a downturn big co.s are buying too: Delta just gobbled up Northwest and B of A just wrote a mega check for Merrill. Don't let the media persona of Buffet fool you. A few years back all he'd talk about was how flying commercial was the best thing to do and a private airplane was not smart. What's he do a bit later- buy a Gulfstream? No he buys an entire company full of private jets and keeps the largest Gulfstream there is on standby. Same with his home, his modest $200k +/- Omaha house is real enough, but what about his 15 million dollar place in SoCal that you don't hear about??? Same with his sob story about his secretary paying more INCOME tax than he does. That's because she MAKES MORE INCOME which is subject to income tax than he does. Think she pays more dividend income than he does? Who's AMT tax bill do you think is larger at year's end? Don't take the media's cookie cutter soundbites or eye candy as the absolute truth or big picture. Remember W.R. Hearst's contempt for the masses? "They'll belive what I tell them" Same is true in the media business today. He's an anomaly, the very wealthy spend trainloads of $$$ you just don't see or hear about it because the majority value privacy, anonimity, and their time above all else. DC - while I don't entirely disagree with the premise that the luxury goods sector is down as a whole like everything else, I do wonder about the sources of these stats? Some blogger from Orange Co. doesn't exactly instill confidence in me for the trends of the nation or world as a whole. I gave you 3 examples of rarely debated "luxury" items that have seen rises in sales during a weakening economy. I guess it boils down to what's going to be considered a luxury item and by whom. Does a $1000 Prada purse qualify, or is a luxury handbag more likely a Kelly Bag from Hermes at well into 5 figures these days? I don't think BMW qualifies anymore these days, but they are always included in "luxury car" rankings and catagories by most auto professionals. Another point I'd like to make that I think few around here get or agree with is that companies making luxury or high end goods don't rush to lower prices at the first signs of a downturn. Some not even after many quarters of neg. results , and some not ever. It defeats the purpose of positioning an item or company as "luxury" or " high end" if you are going to start charging lower prices because sales drop. You either create more demand or a better value proposition or you deal with flat or no growth for a while till you figure it out. Some don't and they fold. Businessmen with any seasoning and experience accept that slaes go up and down just like stock prices and comodity prices. They hope that the broader trend is a rise in the metrics that they use to manage and measure their business. So , don't count on a cut rate deal from Sub Zero , Viking or Meile in the frist part of next year or even at all. Long before they consider lower prices you'll see "incentives" like fridge, oven and cooktop full price DW at 25% off or Viking will throw in a set of their knives when you buy theri range. Miele might extend their warranty another couple of years but I'll bet the farm you won't see a sale from a German firm.