"(Photo courtesy of Howard's) The sudden closure of the Howard's Appliance chain is another sign of the new reality of how Californians buy big-ticket items that fill their homes. Most shoppers no longer seek out these goods at modest specialty merchants like Howard's in Southern California or anywhere else. Rather, consumers primarily go to three big-box merchants: Lowe's, Home Depot or Best Buy."
"Basically, today's consumer shops for appliances and electronics largely based on pricing. The hand-holding that a regional chain or mom-and-pop store might offer has lost most of its value. That's why retail giants succeeded. Trying to add heft by buying up smaller competitors, Howard's did, wasn't a cure. And the high-end slice of this shopping niche something Howard's also toyed with before its demise is a limited, economically sensitive segment that's extremely tough to master."
Howard's Appliance, a nearly 80-year-old retailer based in La Habra, abruptly closed all Southern California stores effective Dec. 6 after opening an experience store in Murrieta in 2023. Consumers increasingly purchase appliances and electronics from big-box chains—Lowe's, Home Depot and Best Buy—rather than modest specialty merchants. Numerous regional and multistate appliance and electronics retailers have shuttered in recent years. Price-driven shopping has diminished the value of personalized service offered by regional chains. Acquisitions of smaller competitors failed to halt decline. The high-end appliance niche is limited and economically sensitive. Howard's cited a skittish 2025 consumer and tariff-related problems in its closure and bankruptcy filing.
Read at www.ocregister.com
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