The search for a washing machine left me spinning
Plus: Top Charlotte news of the week; Links to good reads on Plaza-Midwood's future, the Kim Thomas murder case and the I-277 river proposal; Teen talk
Good morning! Today is Saturday, August 15, 2020. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger’s Weekend Edition.
Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by Carroll Financial, one of the Charlotte region’s oldest and largest independent financial planning and investment management firms:
I learned that if your washing machine conks out, it’s a bad time to buy a new one. Blame Covid.
When you’ve been without a working washing machine for a few weeks, the sight of a new one landing in your driveway (and the old one being hauled away) is like seeing an oasis in the desert.
By Cristina Bolling
There’s never a good time for a washing machine to go on the fritz, but when ours started leaking water three weeks ago, with our middle child needing to pack clean clothes for Boy Scout camp and the rest of our family of five prepping for a weekend mountain getaway, I wanted to scream.
The old one had given me fair warning — its roaring during the spin cycle was sounding more and more like a fighter jet taking off with each load — but appliance shopping, particularly in this time of Covid, was low on my to-do list.
“Can you fix it?” I asked my handy husband. He took the 12-year-old machine apart, diagnosed the issue, ($300 in parts was needed, and we’d already sunk $150 in it for a DIY repair last year) and shook his head solemnly. It was toast.
Off to the Indian Land Lowe’s we went.
On the ride over, I pulled up Consumer Reports reviews on my phone, punched model numbers into the Lowe’s website, and my bargain-loving spirits soared to find my first-choice washer on sale.
Our salesman was the buzzkill. The washer I wanted was on backorder, and there were eight customers on a waiting list. We asked him to pull up a handful of other models we were considering. Also out of stock.
“There’s a supply chain issue. The pandemic,” he shrugged. We walked out with a printed piece of paper guaranteeing us our washer of choice at the sales price, hopefully in the next week. We kept calling to check its status, and each time the tentative in-stock date kept moving backward.
Indeed, our salesman was right. Appliance manufacturers and factories that supply their parts are having trouble keeping up with demand, because many factories across the globe have been shut down or had to decrease their output because of Covid. The Bolling laundry debacle wasn’t going to have a quick fix.
Over the next few days, we bunched up towels around our old machine to catch the water while we washed the clothes we needed most urgently for packing. I scoured local appliance stores and big-box retailers for the washers I wanted.
Several retailers’ websites would show my desired washers as being in-stock, but when I either put them in my online cart or called the store to check, I’d find none were available for weeks.
“Free delivery as soon as Sept. 24” was a common online refrain. September 24?? I pictured us all hand-scrubbing our shorts in the bathtub.
We left town for a weekend of outdoor activities in the mountains and returned with duffel bags stuffed with dank pool and bath towels, dirty clothes and sleeping bags that smelled like a campfire. Our Boy Scout returned home from a week at camp with a foot locker filled with … well, we’ll let you imagine.
We trudged back to Lowe’s, ready to pay more money for a washing machine that wasn’t exactly what we wanted, so long as it was in a Charlotte warehouse. Our salesman laughed sympathetically when I told him my headaches finding what I wanted in-stock. “Yeah, good luck with that,” he said.
We asked him to point to only the ones that were available within a week. We found one that would suffice, albeit $300 more than I’d wanted to spend.
Four days later, it was delivery day.
I felt a teary twinge of relief as two delivery workers hauled away the old unit. One cut his finger disconnecting the water hose, and as he bandaged it up, he noted that although he had 18 deliveries that day, the appliance warehouse seemed thinned out. His last delivery was to a woman who said she’d had only two refrigerators to choose from.
The reporter in me craved answers. I called up Roddey Player, CEO of Queen City Audio, Video & Appliances, to ask for the view from his desk. His dad started the company in 1952, and they’ve been serving Charlotte customers ever since.
“We’ve had times when we’ve had shortages of product before, sometimes it was due to some manufacturers’ capabilities, but I’ve never seen something so broad and across all manufacturers,” Player said. “It’s a different world, for sure.”
Player said he had a feeling back in February that a pandemic would cause appliance shortages. He said he and his staff boosted inventory just in case. “We did not anticipate it would last more than three or four months,” he said.
He’s in better shape than many appliance companies, he said, but he’s had to take about 20% of his models off the floor because they’re not available for purchase.
“The floors don’t look as full as I’d like them to,” he said.
As for me? I now own a bigger washing machine than I’ve ever had, and it’s running constantly. We’re almost caught up on a few weeks’ worth of sheets and towels and clothes.
There’s no longer a leaky jet engine in our laundry room. But what’s that knocking sound? Uh-oh — is that the dryer?
Reach managing editor Cristina Bolling: cristina@cltledger.com
Today’s supporting sponsors are Soni Brendle…
… and the Isabella Santos Foundation, creating change for pediatric cancer care here in Charlotte. Learn more about ISF and donate to help advance research for kids fighting in our community.
Teen talk: Build your vocabulary
Impress and delight the young people in your life by using the words they use. The Ledger shows you how in this occasional Saturday feature.
Today’s word: YEET (verb)
Pronunciation: yEEt
Definition: to throw an object with great velocity
Used in a sentence:
“Jeremy yeeted the basketball to score the winning shot for his basketball team.”
“Did you just see Tommy yeet that piece of paper into the trash can?”
Additional comment: Yeet is also often used as an exclamation for having a strong reaction to something, and it is sometimes used for a humorous effect. It’s been widely popularized in TikTok videos like this one.
Ledger analysis: Yeet seems like a silly word, but in some occasions we find it extremely satisfying. Try exclaiming it in loud but low-pitched, guttural, from-your-diaphragm voice while launching a football or throwing a water balloon.
— Andrew Bolling, age 13
This week in Charlotte: Schools prep for opening, fall sports postponed, Levine Museum ponders future
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and delivers the top articles to your inbox — from different media sources — in areas including education, sports, politics and business. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
What’s on the line for private schools?: (The Ledger, subscriber-only) Many private schools across Charlotte start in-person classes on Monday, and many are reporting more students this year as public school families seek in-person learning. The Ledger talked to a UNC Charlotte professor about what’s at stake for private schools.
Pandemic pods: (Agenda) Learning pods, or small groups of families who team up to hire a teacher to oversee their children’s virtual learning, are popular in many circles. But will they widen educational and socioeconomic disparities?
Superintendent’s anti-racism message: (WFAE) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent Earnest Winston greeted staff members with a 25-minute video challenging them to examine their racial biases and recommending five books on anti-racism. His video and approach drew both anger and praise.
Politics
RNC preparations lauded: (Business Journal, subscriber-only) The Charlotte City Council praised the health protocols for the upcoming Republican National Convention. Attendees will be administered repeated health screenings. Charlotte’s two main healthcare companies helped develop the procedures.
Local news
Strip club alcohol bust: The Ledger broke the news Wednesday (subscriber-only) that Alcohol Law Enforcement agents conducted an undercover operation at Leather & Lace’s location in the University area last year that included purchasing drinks for dancers, buying cocaine and visiting the VIP room. (Reported the next day by The Observer without credit.)
Southern Christmas Show won’t go on: (Observer) The hugely popular holiday market at the Park Expo & Conference Center that draws more than 400 vendors and more than 100,000 visitors each year has been canceled for 2020. The show has been part of Charlotte families’ holiday traditions for more than 50 years.
Business
Possible move for the Levine museum?: The Ledger broke the story Tuesday that the Levine Museum of the New South is considering transforming its physical presence, which might include selling its building. Museum CEO Kathryn Hill said the Levine is on firm financial footing, but “everything’s on the table” as it explores renovation or relocation because “the facility was never built as a museum, because it is inflexible and aging, and because this is a time of real change in museums in general and that’s forced a change in thinking about all of our needs.” The museum sits in an area of uptown that’s seeing a flurry of development.
Lidl expansion: The Ledger broke the news Monday that discount grocery chain Lidl is moving forward with plans for a store in South End, part of a bigger expansion strategy in Charlotte. (Reported two days later by The Observer without credit.)
Vacation homes are hot: (Ledger) The vacation home market in the Carolinas is blazing hot in the beaches and the mountains, as city-dwellers from Charlotte and beyond look for second places to work and learn remotely. “Everyone involved is just bonkers,” said one Realtor in Hilton Head, where pending sales were up 80% this June compared with June 2019.
Sports
N.C. postpones high school sports: (WSOC) The N.C. High School Athletic Association pushed back the start of sports until November at the earliest, with football season scheduled to start in February.
Play ball: (ESPN) The ACC and SEC still plan to play football this fall, as other major conferences bag the fall season because of Covid.
Good reads
Kim Thomas case turns 30: (Queen City Nerve) On the 30th anniversary of one of Charlotte’s most infamous unsolved murders, friends and family of Kim Thomas revisit the case and launch a website to honor her memory.
The future of Plaza-Midwood: (Charlotte Agenda) “Plaza Midwood, known for its artsy vibe and charm, is one of Charlotte’s most rapidly evolving neighborhoods. But all of the churn makes some wonder: Will the area’s longstanding businesses endure?”
A walk obstructed: (The Naked City Blog) Mary Newsom takes a walk on Providence Road and finds overgrown vegetation that the city might or might not help remove. “My experience along Providence shows why, too often, walking is uncomfortable.”
Thought leadership: (Medium) Should I-277 be turned into a river? Jeremy Markovich explores the idea, which originated on social media as a joke. Sure, it might sound absurd and impossible, but in reality … OK, still absurd and impossible, but fun to talk about.
What if I-277 were turned into a river? (Photo illustration courtesy of CLT Development)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire; Reporting intern: David Griffith