{"id":34452,"date":"2021-10-08T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T17:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=34452"},"modified":"2021-10-08T14:24:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T18:24:42","slug":"how-will-the-afghan-refugees-get-washing-machines-wsj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/08\/how-will-the-afghan-refugees-get-washing-machines-wsj\/","title":{"rendered":"How will the Afghan refugees get washing machines? (WSJ)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Why It\u2019s Easier to Find Expensive Appliances Than Cheaper Ones”<\/a> (WSJ):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whirlpool, GM and other companies are prioritizing higher-price products as they try to offset supply-chain snarls<\/p>

\u201cThere was a day when a customer could walk in the door and buy a secondary piece or a landlord special and have 100 options to choose from,\u201d said Mr. Coughlin, a co-owner of All Shore Appliance in Port Washington, N.Y. \u201cNow it\u2019s more along the lines of, we explain to the customer what we have.\u201d<\/p>

As the global supply-chain crisis snarls production and bloats manufacturing and shipping costs, companies that make products from lawn mowers to barbecue grills are prioritizing higher-priced models, in some cases making cheaper alternatives harder or impossible to find, company executives, retailers and analysts say.<\/p>

Some are pushing upscale products in an effort to make up for added labor, shipping and manufacturing costs. Whirlpool Corp., maker of washing machines, KitchenAid mixers and other home appliances, said in July it would shift toward higher-price products as part of a plan to help cover rising costs.<\/p>

General Motors … stopped making the Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan for more than six months, but has kept all shifts running at a factory that makes its most expensive SUVs. The average new vehicle in September sold for a record $42,800, up nearly 19% from a year earlier, according to research firm J.D. Power.<\/p>

Televisions are among items for which cheaper models are becoming scarcer, said Mike Abt, co-president of Chicago appliance seller Abt Electronics. He said the price he pays for appliances is rising and he expects that to continue next year. For the first time he can remember, the price of televisions has actually increased\u2014they typically get cheaper every year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A tough time to be setting up a new household as a refugee, but perhaps the U.S. Treasury has enough cash to buy the high-end LG front-loaders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n