Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCI) today announced that it will open a 30,000-square-foot ApplianceSmart Factory Outlet in San Antonio, Texas, in August 2008 to serve the northwest suburbs of the San Antonio metropolitan area.

Located at 5819 NW Loop off of I410, the outlet is part of the recently updated Exchange Plaza shopping center. The new factory outlet will be ApplianceSmart’s third location in the San Antonio market and seventeenth outlet nationally. The two other San Antonio outlets are located on Lanark Drive and Southwest Military Drive.

Like all ApplianceSmart Factory Outlets, this new location will carry a wide range of special-buy major household appliance brands, including Whirlpool, Maytag, GE, Frigidaire, Jenn-Air, Amana and Magic Chef. Special-buy appliances, which ApplianceSmart sells at a significant discount to retail, include new in-the-box closeouts, factory overruns, discontinued models and thousands of discounted out-of-box items.

Edward R. (Jack) Cameron, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We believe San Antonio is a great market for our concept. Our new factory outlet will be in a prime location with dense traffic patterns and wonderful visibility to commuters and shoppers. ApplianceSmart has established itself in the San Antonio market with two other strong performing retail outlets. We believe our brand of offering customers a wide selection of high-quality, discount-priced appliances has proven to work extremely well in this market. The addition of a third outlet to serve this market will enable us to increase our market penetration, while generating greater economies of scale as we leverage advertising and other overhead expenses.”

About ARCA
ARCA is one of the nation’s largest recyclers of major household appliances for the energy conservation programs of electric utilities. Through its ApplianceSmart operation, ARCA is also one of the nation’s leading retailers of special-buy household appliances, primarily those manufactured by Maytag, GE, Frigidaire and Whirlpool. These special-buy appliances, which include close-outs, factory overruns and scratch-and-dent units, typically are not integrated into manufacturers’ normal distribution channels. ApplianceSmart sells these virtually new appliances at a discount to full retail, offers a 100% money-back guarantee and provides warranties on parts and labor. As of May 2008, ApplianceSmart was operating fifteen factory outlets: five in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market; four in the Columbus, Ohio, market; four in the Atlanta market; and two in San Antonio, Texas. In April 2008 plans were announced to open a new outlet in Rogers, Minnesota, bringing the total count of outlets to sixteen.

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements as defined within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including the risks associated with general economic conditions, competition in the retail and recycling industries and regulatory risks. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in ARCA’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other risks may be detailed from time to time in reports to be filed with the SEC.

Visit our websites at www.arcainc.com and www.appliancesmart.com.

For Additional Information Contact:                            Edward R. (Jack) Cameron, CEO or
                                                                               Peter Hausback, EVP and CFO
                                                                               (952) 930-9000