This article was originally published in Around the Panhandle Magazine.
For 71 years, Orsini’s Appliances has served customers from its Winchester Avenue location in downtown Martinsburg.
The business has thrived on customer satisfaction, and third-generation owner P.J. Orsini is promising even more of that top-notch customer service as the business moves just 5 minutes away from the Winchester Avenue location.
“I bought the business about four years ago from my father and my uncle. That was always the plan to keep it going,” he said while standing in the new facility weeks before its official opening. “I knew I wanted to expand and to go bigger. Once we found this location, everything evolved into what you see.”
PJ said for about three years he had been looking for a new building, as he wanted to expand it beyond appliances to a one-stop shopping experience. For that, he needed more land and space and ample parking, as well as a location that he could easily get 50-foot trucks in and out all day long.
That’s when he purchased the building at 360 Hack Wilson Way, which sits right off of W.Va. 9. After a major remodel, Orsini’s is not only expanding what it has to offer — that now includes kitchen design, custom-designed cabinets, bedding, grills and more. The 704 Winchester Ave. location had 3,000 square feet, while the new Hack Wilson Way site is 18,000.
PJ said his family business can compete toe-to-toe and outperform any of the big box stores.
“We’re an all-in-one company,” he said. “The sales team, installation team, service technicians, they’re all in house. We don’t sub anything out, if you buy it from us, we’ll service it, we’ll install it, and we will deliver it. We work very hard to be same-day, next-day delivery if it’s in stock.”
With generally between 150 and 200 appliances in the warehouse every day, PJ said it allows them to load any appliance on a truck and have it delivered quickly.
P.J. Orsini
With the new location, PJ said they are able to diversify to even more options for customers.
“When I knew I was going to expand, I wanted to create a home center concept. We are very good at appliances, but I wanted to do more and offer that high level of service to the rest of the community,” he said.
At the Winchester Avenue location, Orsini’s only sold appliances, at the new location Orsini’s has the space to display countertops, tile, bedding, small appliances, and outdoor living products. The building has the square footage to not just show items in the pages of a catalog but we can offer interactive displays where customers can touch, feel and see up-close the items they are interested at purchasing.
“A lot of people would come in all the time and say “We want to remodel our kitchen, who do we go see?” And we used to send them all over. Now we have the ability to make it a one-stop shop and help make the buying process that much easier,” he said.
Today’s customers know what they want when it comes to design.
“Most customers are a lot more educated about what they want. We like having them start with’ I saw this’ or ‘I like something like this.’ The concept of such a large showroom and having such a large amount of cabinets out there instead of us showing you a book and seeing a black-and-white picture of it. We can walk you over to that display and you can physically put your hands on it. It may not be the color you want, but it is that physical cabinet and you can see what you’re getting,” he said.
That includes having working appliances such as a Jenn Air Coffee System, Jenn Air induction wok and down-draft system, Kitchen Aid pro-style range, and much more in the live kitchen. In the sleep studio, there are 14 select mattresses offered by Sealy, Tempur-Pedic and Stearns & Foster, and beds with more technology such as synching to a smartphone to tell you about your sleep or having a cooler mattress.
As a company founded on service, we are proud to stand behind the product we sell.
“We are one of the last servicers in the area. None of the nationals can offer it. I think people are getting tired of the big box stores taking their money and handing them a 1-800 number when there’s a problem,” he said. “They know when they come into our store, they’re going to find me or one of our team.”
With everything now under one roof combined with long-term employees, a relationship is developed between customers and his 14-person full-time staff.
“Although the business is really Orsini’s, it’s our team that makes us successful. We have a lot of customers requesting a certain team member by name based on the services they have received in the past. The crew really enjoys that recognition and it is the level quality we strive for daily. “Online reviews are today’s word of mouth advertising and a lot of the reviews you see, you will see our team member’s name in it,” he said.
Overall, the experience at Orsini’s is hands-on and a pure shopping experience.
The live kitchen and display area will allow Orsini’s to invite guest chefs and other culinary experts to offer demonstrations, cooking classes, wine and food pairings, and much more.
That’s also the concept of the 1,000 square-foot Outdoor Living building that can be a full open-air structure. As the region’s only platinum Traeger Wood-fire Grills dealer, Orsini’s has an industrial-tailored display that shows every accessory, barbecue sauces and rubs, pallets and much more. Orsini’s will also be the only independent Yeti dealer in the Tri-State region offering the full selection of Yeti products and accessories.
“Keep a watch on Orsini’s social media sites as we introduce additional products, brands and events in the months to come,” PJ said.
Happy employees make for happy customer experiences, and PJ has made sure to include a few perks for them. For the first time, PJ said there are separate offices for marketing, cabinet design and himself. There also is a separate conference room that allows for Orsini’s team to offer certification classes and training for the staff. They have added a separate restroom for employees, plus an employee break room and lockers.
PJ said when it comes to shopping locally for any of kitchen, bedding or grilling needs, Orsini’s can outperform the big box stores and are price competitors as Orsini’s is a member of Nationwide Marketing Group. Nationwide is a buying group that allows independent dealers to leverage their buying power which allows Orsini’s to price product the same as the national retailer.
“Our delivery turnaround time is usually same day or next day. We have more products in stock than anyone else in the region.”
PJ said he’s looking forward to offering even more to his customers both present and future.
“The whole premise of this building is about the shopping experience,” he said.
