That's interesting . . . I bought a new washer a few months ago and Lowe's had plenty to choose from. Washers and dryers. I got one that has a removable agitator. Not that I'll probably remove it. lol
I like the top loaders better. It seems that you need to leave the door open on the new machines (especially the front loaders) to keep them from smelling bad and I have my washer and dryer in a hallway so it would be inconvenient to have the door open. Plus, I'm just not sold on the front loaders. They seem to have a lot of problems. I got the top loader with the feature that allows you to put extra water in which I think would be helpful if you are washing something that might fade onto the surrounding fabrics.