After spending an afternoon visiting used restaurant equipment dealers in the Richmond area, I came away with interesting information and an eyeful of well maintained used restaurant equipment. One dealer had 15 used Hobart 80 quart mixers in one area of his warehouse. Every dealer I visited was easily sitting on a hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment.
The second restaurant equipment dealer spent a good fifteen minutes talking about the industry. Their family is moving away from used restaurant equipment, deciding to concentrate mainly on new restaurant equipment. After spending forty years in the used restaurant equipment business they are ready for a change. Their goal is to stock the showroom with a few high end freezers, refrigerators, ranges, and mixers but drop-ship most items ordered directly from the manufacturer.
Besides the obvious saving on inventory and warehouse space, this family dealership considers used restaurant equipment to be more of a headache with each passing year. Restaurant equipment repair is becoming increasingly expensive based on two factors: the cost of hiring experienced repairmen and ordering spare parts.
While this restaurant equipment dealership is moving mainly to new restaurant equipment, I was told "the majority of customers walking through their door are still looking for used restaurant equipment first." How this company balances their customer's demands with a move towards selling new restaurant equipment will be interesting.
