The Ability to Handle any Appliance Job
When Don Patterson returned home to Harriman after WWII, along with his Purple Heart, he carried with him a newfound knowledge of refrigeration and HVAC systems he’d learned in the Army. With that knowledge, he began what would become a family business that is now in its third generation. Mark Patterson, his grandson, now leads the business as his father, Steve, prepares to retire and his mother, Elaine, oversees finances.
In 1965, Don Patterson bought the only four-story building in Harriman and opened the doors as Patterson’s Home Appliances. He knew his business would grow to need that space. There are now locations in Harriman, Oak Ridge, Rockwood, Knoxville, and Crossville. The huge amount of warehouse space offers a real advantage: the ability to store appliances for same-day delivery, and a place to store lots of parts, some of them quite rare.
Patterson’s service helps guarantee the quality that has become part of their family reputation. They don’t subcontract—their technicians have many years of experience.
Builders and contractors work with Patterson’s as a resource for larger, commercial installations. They recently installed 816 appliances over two months for an apartment complex, and have another sizeable project coming up. “We may be smaller by comparison, but what we can offer is agility and ability.” That’s important to a builder who has enough scheduling problems to worry about. They don’t want a product in a box delivered on a day when they aren’t ready for it. They want it delivered on their schedule and installed professionally.
Their Knoxville store recently remodeled its Demo Kitchen to showcase and demonstrate JennAir’s top-line appliances. The Demo Kitchen has been a showcase for the best chefs in Knoxville to share their talents for a good cause. After-hours dining events have raised $32,000 for Ronald McDonald House.
When the Demo Kitchen reopened,
Chef Frank Aloise of Cappuccino’s did the honors. He demonstrated his skills on the cook-top island with five-feet of cooking space, 6 burners, induction cooktop, stainless electric griddle, steam oven, a special down-draft ventilation system developed by JennAir, and the most powerful dual convection oven in the residential industry.
Over the years, Patterson’s Home Appliances has been honored many times in their hometown area by those who’ve known them for decades. This is their first time to be recognized as the Best of Knoxville, where there are many national and well established appliance stores. The honor, Mark says, is for his team because of their level of experience and the quality of service they continue to provide in the same tradition as the company’s founder. That level of expertise is hard to match. There are senior service technicians with 24 years experience each, and representatives like John Rodriguez with 14 years consulting with customers about the best products for their needs. Mark says that’s what he likes most about his job: the team. “I love building the culture of the business, making sure the team is taken care of, educated, and supported.””
No doubt, appliances have changed since the early days when Don Patterson returned from the war. But the vision of its founder lives on in all the ways that matter most.