Fred’s Appliance opens new location on North Side

Fred’s Appliance has opened a new location in north Spokane.

Along Newport Highway, situated across the street from Costco, Fred’s 18,000-square-foot spot is full of dishwashers, washing machines, refrigerators and more.

“We sell all appliances, every brand of appliance,” said Ryan Holzapple, the vice president of Fred’s Appliance. “We don’t sell TVs or bedding. So it’s just like our commercial says: ‘Appliances, only appliances.’ But we sell everything from entry-level appliances to high-end luxury appliances. So whatever a customer is looking for, we definitely have.”

On Dec. 8, the new store at 1716 E. Renshaw Drive opened to the public. But the official grand opening isn’t until Thursday.

Every Friday, starting this week and spanning to the end of January, Holzapple said they’re giving away $10,000 in prizes. The first winner will be announced the day after Christmas. Prizes include vacuums, coffeemakers and other “cool, little appliances.”

To enter, customers must go to the new location, write their name and phone number on a form and then slip that into a big bowl for a random drawing.

Holzapple said they chose this location because of the growth expected in the region. The Greenstone development that’s being built southeast of Farwell Road and Newport Highway means there will be a quite a few homes in need of appliances.

With the construction of the building, which began in March, this Fred’s Appliance will become their 11th. Fred’s has three stores in Spokane, one store in Spokane Valley, one store in Coeur d’Alene, a location in Kennewick and four stores across Montana.

The story of how Fred’s Appliance became one of the largest independent appliance dealers in the country can be traced all the way back to 1962 with, well, Fred. Holzapple’s grandfather, Fred Amistoso, started the company in his early 30s after he finished serving in the United States Air Force and built a drive-in movie theater in California with his wife. When Fred’s son, John Amistoso, took over the business in 1986, Holzapple said they only had six employees.

Today, Fred’s Appliance has just under 300 employees, with 11 retail locations and four warehouses.

Despite the rise online shopping for home essentials, Holzapple said Fred’s Appliance is well-protected. He said they have a robust website that ensures customers are called by real human employees. When a customer buys a fridge on the internet from somewhere like Amazon, Holzapple said, there’s a number of things that could go wrong.

But not with Fred’s. Holzapple said they have a commitment to customer service that can’t be found online.

“We will either beat or match any pricing that you’ll find online or at any box store,” Holzapple said. “We have the biggest inventory of anybody in the Pacific Northwest, and we have our own service department. So if you have any issues with your appliance, we’re just one phone call away.”