CONTACTS: Dan Wiseman, owner of Wiseman Appliance (Seattle, Washington)

Just when the world is going wireless, when the children are all on facebook and even the elders are text messaging, Dan Wiseman has decided to get out of the electronics business. The Seattle, Washington, dealer is not adverse to technology, however. He’s filling up his 2500 ft. showroom with the most advanced GE, Whirlpool and Frigidaire appliance sets he can ship in. “We’re packed to the walls,” he laughs, with the good nature of a man who’s come up with a specific strategy to focus on high-margin best-sellers this holiday season.

Wiseman is in a market with something that’s rare these days in America, he says: a building boom. “The Pacific Northwest is still growing at a great pace,” he says. “Builders are still buying and paying all their bills. I like to sell to builders who are dong 16 units and under. There’s more profit that way.”

Wiseman, now the owner of Wiseman Appliance, which was started by his parents, says his relationships with the trades and with long-time customers are enough to keep business humming, even when he’s limiting his product mix to dishwashers, washer/dryers, microwaves, refrigerators, ranges, hoods, vacuum cleaners and parts. “We’ve done well because we sell support along with the merchandise,” says Wiseman.