2001 Appliance News Archives
| Dec 2001 |
|
| -BLAST FROM THE PAST: Click to link to the 1985 decision in a lawsuit between White Consolidated Industries and Magic Chef Corporation vs Whirlpool in an attempt to thwart the Whirlpool acquisition of KitchenAid............we don't want to spoil it for you by giving away the ending. | |
| -Ranges once sourced and distributed by Garland Residential Ranges will be re-launched by Signature Marketing Group under the brand Blue Star. Blue Star will be similar to Garland's residential line which stopped production (see Sept 2001), be built by the same contract manufacturer as was used by Garland, be priced 10 - 18% less than Garland, and have 3 years added to the Garland 1 year warranty. Available January 2002. Garland has provided ApplianceAdvisor.com additional clarification. | |
| -ex-BSH
VP of Sales Harry Gianetti (see October 2001) has left the appliance world
and landed at the cabinet manufacturer Mill's Pride as VP of Sales (sales
to Home Depot) working under his old friend President Reinhardt Metzger
(ex-BSH president: see October 2000). -Other BSH Note: BSH VP of Customer Service Ken Witcher has resigned effective year end. |
|
| -Aspen Appliances, a reseller of "Aspen" branded Northland made refrigerators, is added to the Appliances list. Aspen will only be available on the internet. | |
| -Roth Distribution which covers for Thermador roughly 20% of the land surface of the lower 48 (MN, CO, ID, MT, ND, SD, UT, WA, WY, OR), will end its distribution of Thermador in favor of Sub-Zero effective Dec 31. | |
| -Universal Metal Industries, a maker of high end custom and low end under-cabinet range hoods, entered the 21st century with a new website at http://www.umiphx.com | |
| -Clarke
Distribution of New England has filed an injunction against Bosch-Siemens
Home Appliance over the canceling of Clarke's
distributorship of Thermador and Gaggenau. Clarke is deep into Sub-Zero's pants so why is a distributor with no long term BSH
prospects suing BSH? We have theories: 1) Sub-Zero has not yet ramped up production of all the pretty appliances that Wolf just launched. Clarke needs to sell something. 2) Rumor has it that ex-BSH President Reinhart Metzger gave a verbal promise to cover Clarke's expenses for quality related product change-outs but the new management of BSH is failing to follow through. 3) A more machiavellian but less likely reason could be to give Clarke 3 or 4 months to strangle Thermador sales during the Wolf launch. We doubt this one. Clarke folks are good folks. LATE UPDATE OF DECEMBER 14: BSH has reached an out of court settlement with Clarke, in which money changed hands. We wish we knew the details of all of this. |
|
| -Sirius Range Hoods of Fabriano, Italy has been added to the manufacturer list. Sirius was founded by Bruno Canavari who originally hailed from Best Hoods. | |
| -Sub-Zero/Wolf has ended sales to Home Expo (the Home Depot subsidiary for the clean of finger nail set). "This decision is based on the long term effects a national chain can have on the integrity of a brand". We have been told as well that Sub-Zero / Wolf / ASKO distributors have also begun the process of using their market power to have competitive products such as Viking removed from dealerships. How long can it be before they design their Wolf ranges to only cook food that was first refrigerated in a Sub-Zero? | |
| -Quick
ASKO Distributor Update: ASKO joins John Tisdel Distributing in TN and West KY. Tisdel had chosen Sub-Zero/Wolf and dumped BSH. Tisdel's BSH territory in parts of Michigan and Ohio has been given to Radio Distributing of Michigan, and the rest to Oakton. Fretz Distributing which carries Sub-Zero/Wolf will take over the ASKO territory once serviced by Zamoiski until they wisely decided that this is all very nuts. Also ASKO has aligned itself in Florida with Westye Group which is the corporate expansion of Sub-Zero Distribution of Florida. Supplying to Viking their dishwashers, and partnering with SZ for distribution, ASKO's can be found in 2 out of the 3 most powerful distributorships in each territory. It is a similar story across the country. Simple strategic brilliance by ASKO's parent Merloni. |
|
| Nov 2001 |
|
| -Price fixing in the appliance industry? ApplianceAdvisor is looking for comments from our readers in and out of the industry about the practices known as MAP, UMRP, or other tools which effectively fix prices between dealers and consumers. What are the facts? Are laws being broken or just dented. Use the News Tip Link above. | |
| -ex-BSH VP of Engineering Alan Leukhardt (see Sept 2001) has landed in the position of VP of Engineering at Waterpik Tech. at the Pool and Heater Division of the "crud between your teeth and gums" company. | |
| -Youth in Canada: Viking (known as Ultra-line in Canada) has replaced GPM, its distributor in Western Canada with a direct sales strategy. GPM's remaining lines, AEG, Faber, and Marvel do not a viable distributor make, therefore GPM has indicated that they are pulling the plug on their appliance distribution business. | |
| -Michigan Wife Swapping: Radio Distribution was awarded the entire BSH line of Bosch and Gaggenau brands to go along with their Thermador brand. The 2 lines had previously been with Travarrow which has Sub-Zero/Wolf. Radio tossed their ASKO line which fell into bed with Trevarrow now short a dishwasher line. ASKO has been aligning itself with the Sub-Zero distributors because Bosch is a direct competitor, and ASKO is a Viking supplier.....which only leaves Sub-Zero as a viable bedmate. | |
| -NOT
CLOSED:
Rumor and circumstantial evidence point to the closure of Alfresco Gourmet
Grills of Commerce, CA. Web and email addresses have been
disabled. The answering machine discusses a 3 day work week in
October, but promising a full schedule in November. These are bad
signs. LATE UPDATE: Alfresco's founder and present VP of Mkt Dale Seiden informed us that Alfresco was purchased at foreclosure by Superior Equipment Solutions. The staff and the brand will be saved and production will resume. |
|
| -Sub-Zero Distributors of Florida (a Sub-Zero affiliate) changed its name to Westye Group Southeast. They will distribute Sub-Zero and Wolf in FL, plus take over the territories of GA, AL, and starting 01/2002 in SC & NC. | |
| -Sub-Zero launches their new Wolf website and have filled it with an astounding line of new products to steal market share and sleep from Thermador and Viking and their executives. This looks like the kitchen shattering, product launch that we predicted in the 2001 KBIS report that would reposition Wolf to target the other 98.7% of the market not looking for nearly-commercial appliances. Ceran electric cooktops, microwaves, Gaggenau-like ovens, Euro-hoods. They promise to start shipping December 1. With Garland out, and Wolf repositioned, can the Dynasty division of Maytag figure out how to leverage their new monopoly? | |
| -It doesn't get more official. We noticed that Clarke Distribution (based in New England) has stopped mentioning Thermador or Gaggenau in its advertising, though they do list Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Independent. We've got 20 bucks that says that December 31 will be the last day for those 2 brands with Clarke before joining with sister division Bosch in Hadco New England | |
| Oct 2001 |
|
| -BSH
(Bosch/Thermador/Gaggenau) accepted the resignation of VP of Sales Harry
Gianetti. Mr. Gianetti started with Thermador running their direct sales in New Jersey.
In 1997 the territory of NJ, and Harry were
given to Goldman Associates. When Thermador was purchased by BSH, Harry was rehired
as
Eastern Regional Manager, then National Director of
Distributor Sales, and finally VP of Sales where he was 1/3 of the team,
and the only American, running BSH North America. We wonder if Harry has left to relieve
Goldman of its BSH responsibilities in NJ, the city, and the island.
We guess that BSH is up for grabs in this territory since Goldman has
indicated that Sub-Zero is its "to die
for" supplier? (see earlier this month). LATE COMMENT FROM HARRY: He is not becoming a distributor. He will be moving back to his home in NJ to relax. |
|
| -Sub-Zero
is seeking to fix a potentially dangerous delayed ignition problem with
the oven and broiler burners made by its Wolf subsidiary between
1996 and early 2001. The problem, which could potentially result in
kitchen-sized mushroom-type explosions, was caused by a slight shifting of
elements during shipping. We have been told that so far there has
been no hospital stays or property damage associated with the
problem. Wolf is fixing ALL units made with the
effected components whether the owner is experiencing a problem or
not. Owners should contact Sub-Zero at 800-222-7820. Product Recall Notice |
|
| -Whirlpool
has ordered its Canadian dealers to stop selling its OTR (over the range)
Microwave ovens. We have inquired with Whirlpool about this
stoppage, but our calls were not returned. Our source surmised that
this was a CSA certification problem of some kind. THIS JUST IN.......... Whirlpool will recall 1.8 million OTR Microwave ovens in the US and Canada because of 7 reported fires. For more information: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011016/bs/consumer_recall_microwave_dc_1.html http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011016/162211_1.html |
|
| -Sub-Zero / Wolf has given the New Jersey territory to its New York distributor, Goldman Associates. New Jersey was covered by Shaedel Distribution until it chose to go with Viking. Goldman also distributes Thermador, Gaggenau, and Bosch. | |
| -ApplianceAdvisor.com releases the 2001 Major Appliance Report to the public on its website after a 3 month release to registered users only. ApplianceAdvisor.com believes that the appliance industry instability of September 2001 (see below) was the result of this report. | |
| Sep 2001 |
|
| -BSH
(Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau) fired many members of its CA
engineering department as well as other departments. BSH has been building a new engineering
department in NC, and the new economic reality accelerated this goal. -In an unrelated event, BSH VP of Engineering Alan Leukhardt resigned effective September 28. |
|
| -DCS president Mike Markowich (who originally came from Dacor) parted company with DCS effective September 25 and was replaced by Gary Hainley (who originally came from Kolpak Refrigeration). CFO Carl Lehman (who originally came from Dacor) has also left DCS. | |
| -Garland announced on September 20 that it will be exiting from the residential cooking products business effective immediately, though it will fill current orders. See Garland's September 20th announcement. | |
| -Viking
announced its new distribution arrangements effective Jan 1, 2002 to
replace Zamoiski Distribution, which has decided to bail out of high end
appliance distribution entirely: -Western PA and all of WV will be covered by existing distributor Peirce-Phelps. -MD, DC, VA, south DE will be covered by the new Viking subsidiary: Atlantic Appliance Distribution. -NC, SC, GA, AL, east TN will be covered by the new Viking subsidiary: SouthEast Appliance Distribution. ALSO -Viking announced its replacement for Gulf Central Distribution in Florida effective November 1, 2001. -FL will be covered by the new Viking subsidiary: Palmetto Appliance Distribution. |
|
| -The strangely named appliance brand La Germania (of Italy believe it or not) which is available from some obscure e-dealers has been added to the Appliance links | |
| Aug 2001 |
|
| -Exclusive: Refrigerator inventories have been extremely tight since the July 1 increase in energy standards. Distributors are making brand substitutions on backordered products. Frigidaire has failed to fill orders placed over 8 weeks ago (July 1). Other suppliers are having difficulty in replacing Frigidaire's volume. | |
| -2001
Major Appliance Report Released by ApplianceAdvisor.com. Staff celebrates with warm beer, cold pizza, hugs, and ended with convulsive hysterics as each member took turns relating embarrassing stories of youthful indiscretion. |
|
| -2001
Appliance Report succeeds in changing the world...... a little bit. Fisher & Paykel removed from their website a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle after ApplianceAdvisor broke the story of F&P's use of a flawed Energy Star product comparison. Energy Star has changed their website database to remove Fisher & Paykel's single Dishdrawer from the top spot in energy efficiency. HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR 2001 REPORT YET? Register above and you shall receive. |
|
| -Luxury Kitchen and Bath Show was added to the Pro+Trade page list of industry shows. This new show was started by KBIS management refugees and targets a very high end list of manufacturers, designers and dealers with the sensibility and style of the "money to burn" set. They have taken a decisive step back from the KBIS cattle-car approach. No more than 500 will be allowed to attend. First show is November 28 - 29. | |
| -We STRONGLY recommend that you click this link to see the DOE's judgment allowing Viking up to 12 months to get its refrigeration line up to Fed energy standards. It is fascinating. Viking claimed that they had not known that Amana had done so little work on efficiency until the money had changed hands, AND that Amana's refrigeration line was sold "as is" without the possibility of recouping any money from Amana. Is Viking stupid, or are they swinging d---s? Could be either, but probably the later. They got an extension from the DOE to remain in production with a dog of a refrigerator that "only marginally meets the present refrigerator energy efficiency standards, adopted in 1993". It is interesting to read Viking's market strategy, and Sub-Zero's moves to thwart Viking's goals. Does Trent Lott have a new Viking in his kitchen? | |
| -GE's Monogram built-in refrigerator supplier, Diversified Refrigeration (DRI) of Tennessee, was given a 6 month waver from the DOE's July 2001 energy standards. This is a less interesting read. There is a high chance that DRI was simply dumber than a load of bricks. | |
| -Delia Distribution will start distributing ceramic cooktops and range hoods made by Kenyon Custom in New England, NY and northern NJ. Kenyon offers Delia an answer to some of the products it lost when Dacor went direct. | |
| -Rumor has it that Carl Schaedel Distribution of New Jersey has chosen to go with Viking over Sub-Zero. We understand that Viking has offered Schaedel additional territories as well. | |
| -Maytag sells commercial equipment maker Blodgett to Middleby, the owner of foodservice equipment makers Southbend and Toastmaster. Jade/Dynasty were not part of this sale. | |
| -Additional testimony points to Benson BBQ having ceased operations. | |
| Jul 2001 |
|
| -Effective Jan 1, 2002. Zamoiski will end the distribution of high end brands Sub-Zero, Viking and ASKO, while continuing to distribute its Big 5 brands. No reason was given. Fretz and Sub-Zero Distributors of FLA will step up to the plate for Sub-Zero. We don't know ASKO's and Viking's plans. See May 2001 for Rumor. | |
| -Delia Distribution's Executive VP Tim Boyd resigns. | |
| -Diva de Provence opens up distributors Gilman/Northeast, Meadow Creek/Rockies, and Excel/California. | |
| -Viking launches new website. | |
| -As expected, Viking has begun interviewing nationally in search for someone to head up Viking's yet to be invented Florida Distributor. Florida, equity, and a brand that hasn't missed a 3 point shot yet. Who really wants to be a millionaire? | |
| Hadco confirmations
in New England -Confirmed: BSH's ex-Dir of Sales for Gaggenau, Tom Cutler, is now in Hadco's New England office. (see June 2001 for background). -Confirmed: Basil Larkin, National Sales Mgr for the Bosch brand, has left BSH to join Tom Cutler. -Confirmed: Gilman Distribution has lost Bosch to Hadco New England. -Thermador and Gaggenau remain with Clarke Distribution at this time. |
|
| -Dynamic Cooking Systems and their Senior VP of Operations Tom Yingst have parted company. | |
| -Guess what we just found out? La Cornue, the French maker of exotic gas ranges is a member of the Nortek Group of Providence RI? Nortek also owns Broan and Nutone, makers of bathroom fans and range hoods. Someone explain how that makes sense. | |
| -Rumor has it that Dacor made an offer for Maytag's Jade/Dynasty division but was rebuffed. | |
| -The Japanese hood manufacturer Fujioh was added to the "Appliance" list 1 year after their first KBIS show. | |
| Jun 2001 |
|
| -AppliancePlanet out
of business e-dealer. (Added to page Sept 2000) -RationalChoice drifted out of appliances (Added to pro+trade Sept 2000) |
|
| -Tom Cutler, Director of Sales for the Gaggenau division of Bosch/Siemens Home Appliances is leaving to join Hadco distribution of Swanee, GA and Sterling, VA. This has been confirmed. There is an unconfirmed rumor that Hadco will take over distribution of BSH appliances from Clarke (Thermador, Gaggenau) and Gilman (Bosch) in the Northeast and that Tom Cutler is the lead. A representative of Clarke "would not speculate". Hadco Distribution could not be reached for comment. Gilman Distribution indicated that they had no knowledge of this. If true it would be driven by the need EITHER to unify the BSH lines (Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau) under 1 roof OR to separate Thermador from Sub-Zero (both at Clarke) for the coming battle royale OR both. Though this is an "Unconfirmed Rumor", which means that in the end this may not represent reality, we felt that there was enough evidence to post. We will be writing more on this subject soon. | |
| -Goodman to sell
Amana Appliance Division to Maytag for $325 million. Expected to
close in 3rd quarter after FTC approval. Maytag wants to strengthen
their high-end business and refrigeration as well as find other
efficiencies. (This means that Iowa is about to get more part-time farmers). See
Maytag Press Release. Is Maytag itself off the market? How does the Amana purchase fit the Maytag strategy? Can you walk from Amana to Newton, Iowa? If you have answers, we're listening. |
|
| -Our imminent decision to demote Amana from the The Big 6 list is made easy by the Maytag purchase. Effective immediately, Amana will be banished from the "Appliances" Big 6 (now Big 5). That was easy.....but who should we promote? | |
| -ApplianceAdvisor continues to toil on the 2001 Kitchen and Bath Report.....targeting end of June publication. Yes we are bad people. | |
| -Is Benson BBQ MIA or DOA? Emails are not returned. Telephone is disconnected. | |
| -Dacor canceled Delia as its distributor in the Northeast effective in May, choosing to go direct instead. Dacor continues to sell through distribution in only 2 territories. Is Dacor acknowledging that they can never get their fare share of distributor time, money and effort in the 3 pole world of Viking, Bosch, and Sub-Zero? We'll let you know. | |
| -Correction to Dynasty sale....see May, 2001 below. | |
| May 2001 |
|
| -Correction to
Dynasty sale. We wrote in May: After a short lived marriage, Maytag will sell Dynasty Range (and Jade and Blodget). We amend this in June with: Maytag is looking for a buyer to sell Jade, manufacturer of Dynasty Range, but will NOT sell the Dynasty brand. Maytag will source pro-style product for Dynasty from Jade and whomever buys Jade. ApplianceAdvisor apologizes for our error. |
|
| -Rumor that Viking would cancel Zamoiski was strongly denied by Viking. Zamoiski covers Viking's bases in the area politely referred to as the ole' South (except for Florida and except for refrigeration). We will take Viking's word for it, though the present arrangement is not stable. Michigan based (and Viking invented) distributor NorthStar sorta kinda distributes Viking refrigeration in the south so that Zamoiski can continue carrying Sub-Zero. That isn't going to last. | |
| -Rumor has it: Early hurricane hits Gulf. Effective July, Viking will cancel its distribution agreement with Gulf Central. Gulf distributes the complete Viking line in Florida, and did carry Viking refrigeration in GA, AL, NC, SC, VA. Viking is Gulf's "anchor" without which this distributor will be adrift in rough seas with a combination of 2nd and 3rd tier lines. And Viking? Most likely to a Viking owned distributor yet to be invented, as happened in Michigan (see June 2000 below). A Gulf Central employee by the name of Melissa, had no comment. | |
| Apr 2001 |
|
| -Seaward Products, a maker of appliances for RV and boat, added to manufacturer page. | |
| -Appliance Standards Awareness Project added to Consumer page | |
| -Bush administration approves Clinton initiated efficiency standards for washer machines (22% more efficient in '04 than '01, and 35% more efficient in '07 than '01). | |
| -Peerless-Premier launches website. | |
| -All prepare for the 2001 Kitchen and Bath Trade Show held April 27 - 29 in Orlando | |
| Mar 2001 |
|
| -Delia Distributors killed their New Hearth bread oven brand over 1 year ago......but when did we find out, this month. | |
| -A link to a firm selling "Pressure Drop" calculation software was added to Pro+Trade page. | |
| -Clark Distribution of New England ends its distribution of Maytag's Dynasty Range in order to make room for Sub-Zero's Wolf line. Gilman Distributors will now carry Dynasty in New England. | |
| -Lehman's and Exploration Products added to e-dealer page. Lehman's targets sod busters, Luddites, and the home schooling segment. Exploration Products targets summer cottage owners, but the site is written as if all its customers are fighting polio in Africa. | |
| -ElectronicsIn.com added to e-dealer page | |
| Feb 2001 |
|
| -Month canceled for lack of interest. | |
| Jan 2001 |
|
| -Montgomery -Ward (aka Wards) was shut down by GE Capital after 128 years of business. The Admiral brand was once the Wards house brand. | |
| -ApplianceOrder.com closed its doors sometime in the last 2 months. No one noticed. | |
| -General Electric Appliance has begun layoffs for the coming recession. | |
| -General Electric Appliance General Manager Linda Goodspeed has left to become president of PartMinder.com based in New York. | |
| -Cstorestuff.com added to the edealer page. |