Having just gone through part of that process (new stove and new fridge with some pretty tight requirements) I'd say that 1. you're right, Home Depot has the best prices on that sort of thing, but, 2. you can't trust the HD appliance people to know what they're talking about.
Prices on all major appliences seem to work on plateaus. That is, you'll find a bunch of, say, stoves falling in a price range that's only separated by a few dollars. Then there's a jump and there are a bunch at the next price grouping. Etc.
That said, I think you can do a lot worse than Kenmore. I am not, normally, a big Sears fan. But Kenmore appliences seem to be built right, last two days longer than forever, can be readily serviced if necessary, and are price competitive. Besides which, if you shmooze the salesman, he or she will tell you who actually built the model you're interested in. For instance, the fridge we finally bought says "Kenmore" on it. But it's actually an LG.
Speaking of which, LG, obviously, makes some good appliences under its own name as well.  | 
