Prestige Appliance Outlet donates appliances during its grand opening
Prestige Appliance Outlet celebrated the grand opening of its new location on Whiskey Road Saturday with a major donation to charity.
As part of the grand opening festivities, Prestige owner Doug Huffer, Whiskey Road store General Manager Trent Roth and special guests including Whirlpool Chairman of the Board and CEO Jeff M. Fettig and "Maytag Repairman" Clay Jackson presented a truckload of appliances to Aiken County Habitat for Humanity. The appliances are used but working and will go into Habitat's resale store on Park Avenue.
"We always collect appliances from our customers for Habitat," Roth said. "One of the services we provide to the community is that if it's a working appliance, we donate it to Habitat for Humanity and get the customer a tax receipt for the donation. We have also set up a dryer in the store where we're accepting cash donations for Habitat for Humanity all this week through next Saturday."
"This is going to put us over the top," said Henry Krippner, Habitat resale store manager. "We're doing exceptionally well in resale this year, as have all the Habitat for Humanity resale stores. We're at our all-time peak in sales for our store, which has been here in Aiken for 13 years, and we're so appreciative of what Doug Huffer has done for us, because appliances are a major part of our sales."
Whirlpool's CEO made the visit specifically in support of the donation to Habitat for Humanity.
"This is an exciting day for both Prestige Appliance opening the new store here in Aiken and for us as well," Fettig said. "Partnering with Habitat for Humanity has been a great honor, and it's been a great partnership for Whirlpool for more than 10 years. For every Habitat house in the world now, we supply a free range and refrigerator. It's our strong belief, along with Habitat for Humanity, that providing affordable housing for everyone is a wonderful thing to be a part of. Habitat is an incredibly powerful organization, and, as a company, we're so honored to be part of its movement."
Richard Church, executive director of Aiken County Habitat for Humanity, was also at Prestige Appliance on Saturday to accept the donation.
"What Whirlpool does for Habitat is huge for the whole country, and it's greatly appreciated. At the same time, we're also benefiting here in Aiken from Prestige Appliance," Church said. "They've been a good supporter of ours, and they've really made a big difference. We're thrilled to be part of their grand opening here because we really believe in them."
"I think this kind of support is very important for us," Huffer said. "We live here, we work here, our children go to school here and we think it's very important to invest in our community."
Prestige Appliance Outlet's new store is located at 2575 Whiskey Road, across from Hobby Lobby.
The store is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and can be reached at 644-6113.
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.