Air conditioners are hottest sellers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - William Edwards wanted an air conditioner to help him beat the record-setting heat blanketing the entire Midwest. He went to the Ace Hardware at Michigan and Fuller in Grand Rapids and noticed one thing right away.

"They're going fast," he said. "I can see they're rolling out the door right now."

The store had to re-stock quickly as people snapped up the window unit air conditioners.

"(Friday) we started out the day with over 150 of them and we completely sold out," store manager Jon Van Oss told 24 Hour News 8. "We were sold out by 4 o'clock."

But the managers called for an emergency shipment from headquarters, and another 200 units arrived at the store around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

"We did have some people pre-pay for them, so right now we have about 150 available for sale," Van Oss said.

Edwards sounded like a man who shopped around when he said, "Everybody is sold out, all the big box stores."

Van Oss confirmed that. "As far as I know today, that remains true. Everyone else is still out."

24 Hour News 8 called several big box stores in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Holland and Muskegon. All of them said they ran out of air conditioners earlier in the week.

But Edwards was happy to pay $140 and walk out with his unit.

"Good news for me. I'll sleep good tonight."

The heat wave should break on Sunday , when temperatures will likely only reach the mid-80s.

Stay with Storm Team 8 for the latest weather information.