2003 Appliance News Archives
| Dec 2003 |
|
| Where
Are They Now? 1) Is Quadlux, the inventor of the Flashbake, still a going concern? The royalty checks must be going somewhere. 2) Where is Aspen Appliances, created to internet-distribute Northland refrigerators in 2000? Answer: Terminated in 2002 3) Does Stewart Range hoods still crank out hoods? |
|
| -Pro-Style
Cooktop Comparison Test: SURPRISE RESULTS Big time food and cooking critique David Rosengarten published the results of a performance test of 4 pro-style cooktop brands: Viking, DCS, Jade (Dynasty), and Blue Star The testing included: boiling, simmering, deep frying, woking, and searing. Blue Star won in every category probably for reasons of its open burners, higher BTU output, and its vertically directed flame and wide flame pattern. DCS was a close second (DCS manufactures the Monogram and Jennair pro lines). Viking and Jade were left in the dust. Thermador, Dacor, and Wolf were missing from the tests and were missed by us as we would have liked to see their technology in a head to head test. No testing was done on ovens. Blue Star is the 3 year old brand of 120 year old Prizer-Painter of Reading, PA. Prizer was the contract manufacturer of Garland's residential cooking line until Garland closed the line in 2000. Blue Star was launched to substitute for the Garland business. For the full Rosengarten article see: American Express Departure Magazine Nov-Dec issue If manufacturer's wish to comment or complain about this test or article, we will include your response here. If anyone can provide identical testing for the missing brands, we will include those results here. The chat log from Gardenweb may also be of interest. |
|
| -BSH (Bosch-Siemens Home Appliances) launches the "Siemens" brand of appliances in the United States through "Best Buy". What if any difference there is with "Bosch" branded appliances is unknown. What the strategy or future plans are, is as well........unknown. Why only Best Buy? Why no website? Why bother? | |
| -Italian brand Alpes-Inox is threatening to launch its brand in the United States with cooktops, ovens and range hoods. Alpes has launched a website, and is listed on HomePortfolio.com. Me thinks that the MSRPs listed on HomePortfolio are done with a significant dash of humor as the prices seem to be 3 to 4 times higher than reality. Website indicates that the brand is not yet certified (UL) for sale in the US. We will add them to the link list when they are. | |
| -Excell, a newly minted maker of BBQ and pro-style cooking appliances opens a 15,000 ft2 manufacturing facility in Fontana, CA. Excell also announced that Joe Adamski who hails from Dacor, will lead Excell R&D and was given equity participation for his trouble. Michael Heftman has been hired as Director of Operations and will manage manufacturing and purchasing. | |
| -BSH
enters refrigeration with Thermador brand refrigerators. Source
unknown, but Whirlpool is assumed. Update March 13: A dealer in the field has confirmed that this unit is a KitchenAid-type refrigerator from Whirlpool. |
|
| -It's settled. The BSH strategy for Hadco Northeast does not include multiple-brand distribution. All non-BSH brands will be discarded from the fold. | |
| -Just
two week ago we said that BSH brands of Thermador/Bosch/Gagganau were not
going direct.... BSH has bought HADCO's Northeastern operations and will be going direct in a territory that includes New England, New York and probably everything north of Virginia. What's driving the buy out? Acrimony possibly, if any of the rumors of lawsuits, slow selling, and "Lowes" direct sales are true. Or is this the first step in a national direct strategy enacted to humiliate the humble editors of ApplianceAdvisor.com? Or is the relationship peachy, and HADCO was given S. Florida in trade? Check back in 2 weeks. Now what of Five Star, Scotsman, U-line, AGA, Trade-wind ventilation, and CabanaKitchens BBQ distributed by Hadco in the northeast? BSH could make a go of all of these brands if they decided to be a distributor. Five Star is a "glancing blow" competitor to Thermador in lower-end pro-style. AGA is a fantastic fit for Gaggenau. U-Line and Scotsman are more of a problem for each other than any BSH product. As for Cabana and Trade-wind, we can't guess. BSH has already decided a strategy, and these brands will wait and hear what that decision is before making any of there own moves. |
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| Nov 2003 |
|
| -Viking has cancelled its distributor agreement with Coffman Distributing for Iowa and Nebraska effective January 1, 2004. This famously flat piece of real estate will be added to the vertically-challenged locales of Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois already managed by Showcase Appliance Distributors. | |
| -Maytag launches attack on Haier's 4.2 cu ft "bottom drawer / top door" freezer with Amana's new 4.6 cu ft unit with similar functionality. Amana's unit was launched in September. | |
| -How could we have missed this? On August 11, 2003, just 5 days after Whirlpool filed a lawsuit against LG, and just 4 months after Fisher & Paykel filed a lawsuit against LG, Whirlpool and Fisher & Paykel formed a global alliance for sourcing, and technology sharing and technology development. | |
| -In a reorganization of Viking's wholly owned Michigan distributor NorthStar, president Dean Striler lost his position. Dean came to Northstar from Trevarrow. Viking coaxed Dean from his position as VP of Trevarrow in June 2000. | |
| -Putting
the Bosh on Bosch-Siemens rumors: 1) There is a rumor that Thermador/Bosch/Gagganau will be going direct and cancel distribution. We strongly doubt the veracity of this rumor, at least for the foreseeable future. The rumor has legs since it fits the Bosch strategy to become the next KitchenAid. Maybe it will happen someday, but all whom we contacted denied it, and current distributors have signed on to multi-year contracts. 2) There is a frequently mentioned rumor that the Gaggenau brand will be eliminated. This brand has great brand recognition in its niche competing with Miele and the unknown Küppersbusch. We can only say that it doesn't seem to make sense to us, therefore we believe that the rumor doesn't hold water. |
|
| -Fabriano, Italy producer "Merloni Electrodomestici" (not same as ASKO owner "Antonio Merloni Group") is entering the US market with their Ariston brand in conjunction with a to-be-created consortium of distributors known as "Ultra 8". The product line is to include the never very successful concept of US approved European designs of dishwashers, ovens, and cooktops. "Ultra 8" is led by several current Oakton Distributor employees and several BSH refugees, and is owned by the management, Oakton Distribution (who bankrolled the idea), 7 other distributor investors who pony up with $100,000, and probably Merloni. We have heard that the pitch to the sought after 7 distributors includes the plan that in 5-10 years Merloni wants to go direct, so be ready to sell out. Representatives of "Ultra 8" have refused comment, but distributors have been less than pleased with the program or the products. At this time, "Ultra 2" may be a better name. | |
| -An outside of the beltway company (not a current appliance maker) called TMIO is promising a refrigerated 30" range ala Whirlpool's Polara range but with the added benefit of cell phone or internet initiation of the cooking program. The question here is NOT whether people can plan, and prepare the dinner 12 hours or even 20 hours before dinner, to be tossed into the oven in the morning. The real question is do people think they can when shopping for appliances. Until it is available 2004, our only link will be here. | |
| -And speaking of Universal Metal Industries, Mark Hallet has taken on the presidency of the Home Ventilation Institute, the ventilation industry's standards group. | |
| -Jade/Dynasty opens a new 100,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Brea, California, and shuts down the Commerce plant. Both residential and commercial products will be built in the new facility. | |
| -Universal Metal Industries has launched the Custom Crafted division and brand for the production of custom range hoods. "Custom Crafted works with homeowners, builders and kitchen designers to design and fabricate custom range hoods, custom hood liners, back splashes and duct covers." We have added their link to the manufacturer's page. http://www.customrangehoods.com | |
| -Sub-Zero is reorganizing their parts distribution so that their finished goods distributors will no longer be their parts distributors. Though we do not know what is driving the change we imagine that dedicated parts distributors are faster and cheaper. | |
| -Appliance International has made a name for itself as a company which refuses to make a name for itself. After having revived the deceased brands of "Thor" and "Bendix", they have now revived the brand "Chambers" to start a cooking line. Unlike the original owners of these brands Appliance International has contracted the screwdriving to others. | |
| Oct 2003 |
|
| -CONFIRMED: Rumor has it that DCS president Mark Eichorn, brought on board December 2002, was shuffled out the door 2 months short of his apartment's 1 year lease and replaced by Randy Rummel. Ala Steve Jobs, Randy was one of the original entrepreneurs who started DCS a decade and a half ago. | |
| -Aga, (UK maker of impossible to shut off cast iron gas ranges that heat the house even when you're not cooking), purchased Marvel (maker of refrigerators facilitating alcoholism) and Northland (makers of commercial style refrigerators suitable for dear, moose and elk seasons). Ingeniously they have created a natural monopoly in Maine, the UP of Michigan and Alaska. | |
| Sept 2003 |
|
| -Best
(a Broan subsidiary) has finally HVI certified (Home
Ventilating Institute) the noise and performance of their range
hoods, the first high end manufacturer to do so. We applaud their
belated move away from the dark side of chronic performance
exaggeration. (see our 2000 story) May this
be the first step in a general cleansing of the ventilation
industry...............ahhhh yes, that will be the day. So how did Best do it? Let's take an example: The Best K41 which was once marketed as a 600CFM hood but actually performed less than 400CFM, received a new blower, giving 500CFM, and this is the certified number and the one you will find on the website today. For the K42, it was once marketed at 1100CFM, but actually performed at around 750CFM. A new blower now reaches 1000CFM. ApplianceAdvisor will provide space
on this website, free of charge, for Best to confess their past sins,
to apologize to the thousands, make that tens of thousands of home owners
across the continent who got less than they paid for. I am sure that
they (somewhat stale smelling, undervented Americans and Canadians) will understand that with the acquisition of Best, Broan had to play
the hand that they were dealt. |
|
| August 2003 |
|
| -Has 50 years of living on the edge with the North Koreans twisted LG's moral compass? Has LG become addicted to the thrill, the adrenal rush, of poaching patented technology? Is LG pinching patents and even trademarks in a mad dash to become a power player in the North American appliance industry? Fisher + Paykel thinks so (see April 2003), and now Whirlpool thinks so. | |
| -Dynasty Range launches their new website under their new name Jade. Jade hires BSH Laundry product manager Jeff Thom to manage the development of Jade's new cooking products....though we are not quite sure what Mr. Thom's expertise says about BSH's old laundry products or Jade's new cooking products | |
| July 2003 |
|
| -The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) has been added to the Pro+Trade page. CEE is a non-profit organization which "develops national initiatives to promote the manufacture and purchase of energy-efficient products and services.....CEE members include utilities, statewide and regional market transformation administrators, environmental groups, research organizations and state energy offices. Also contributing to the collaborative process are CEE partners - manufacturers, retailers and government agencies. The U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency both provide support through active participation as well as funding." | |
| -PRICE FIXING in the appliance industry? Well of course there is. We all know that there is organized, manufacturer dictated, price fixing at the retail level. The question is, "Is it legal?" | |
| -BSH accepted with immediate effect, the resignation of its Chief Marketing Officer, Martin Scaglioni. Mr. Scaglioni arrived at BSH from Maytag. Resignations with immediate effect should be odd occurrences at this level as one normally wants a long transition period. Hmmmm. | |
| -Dealerscope
(www.dealerscope.com) reports that BSH Pres. & CEO Franz J. Bosshard
is "considering" as a cost saving measure, closing Thermador's
Vernon (Los Angeles) factory and
moving the remaining production east to BSH's New Bern, NC facility. Since
acquiring Thermador in 1998, BSH has shifted ventilation and cooktops out of Vernon leaving only
ovens and 30" ranges. Having missed any opportunity to strike when it might have made a difference, me thinks that the Vernon workers overpaid on their union dues. BSH's nervous white collar staff work in high rent Huntington Beach. We wonder how long until the coast is clear.....west coast that is? |
|
| -Sears makes moves to defend its appliance market share which it has of late been forking over to Lowes and Home Depot. | |
| June 2003 |
|
| - 3 year old BBQ maker Twin Eagles launched their new and improved website this month. From the look of the website buttons, their website developer is well ahead of the schedule of their appliance engineers. | |
| May 2003 |
|
| -ApplianceAdvisor.com now uses a new list management service for all Registrations. Could there be anything more mindless than clicking and copying thousands of registrations into a database. We love automation. If you experience any bugs when registering let us know at advisor@applianceadvisor.com | |
| -Did anyone out there realize that "Magic Chef" branded microwave ovens are not sold by Maytag, but instead by Daewoo. Perhaps this follows that Westinghouse small appliances are not sold by Electrolux but by Salton (of George Foreman Grill fame). How odd it is for Maytag to be an accomplice in deceiving customers who believe they are buying a Maytag product which will be supported and serviced by Maytag? | |
| -PriceScan.com
the shopping bot price comparison website has been added to Consumer page -Emerson Radio a distributor of Chinese made microwave ovens has been added to the Appliances page. |
|
| -Busy cleaning up some of the dead links and Appliance brand exits. Patton, Servel, Low Keep removed. | |
| Apr 2003 |
|
| -Take the money and run.....Hanley-Wood, publisher of such page turners as "The Journal of Light Construction" and "Builder" and the producer of such fascinating trade shows as "World of Concrete", and my favorite, "World of Masonry", purchased the assets of the Davis Peterson Collaborative. Davis Peterson created and produced the "Luxury Kitchen and Bath Collection" show for all of 2 years....when they got an offer they couldn't refuse. | |
| -On
April 8, New Zealand based Fisher and Paykel filed suit against South
Korea based LG Electronics. The suit claims that LG is infringing on
F&P's US
patent for a computer controlled motor technology for washers. F&P
calls the technology "SmartDrive". See the Press Release. If LG wishes to respond to these charges, make their own charges, or chant "naaaa ---- naaaa ---- na naaa ---na", we will provide them space on this page to do so. How could we be surprised that it would come to this when both companies claimed to be Australia's #1 appliance brand in 2001? |
|
| -The
2003 National Kitchen and Bath Show in Orlando finished its 3 day
run. My knees are swollen, my feet no longer fit in my
shoes......and I'm going to take it all out on the appliances. While
we wait for the Press kits to arrive, we can update you all with other
passably interesting things in the industry. -Maytag re-launched their residential "Dynasty" line under its commercial cooking brand name "Jade". This is a big marketing investment by Maytag and a vote of confidence in the Jade business. Questions: What's the effect on Jade's commercial business? When will Jennair get out of pro-style products? -The BSH divisions of Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau were no-shows for the 2nd time in 3 years. Will a "low profile" strategy work for kitchen appliances targeted at serial botox injectors? We'll let you know. -We discovered Majestic Appliances, a distributor of Chinese made 110V and 220V front loader washers and washer/dryer combos. -The German heavy construction equipment maker, Liebherr-Hausgerate, which also dabbles in high end European style refrigerators, attended KBIS for the first time trawling for a US beachhead. Rumor has it that they already have their first OEM customer. -Electrolux, North America's #1 depreciator of brand equity, launched the "Electrolux" brand in the US. The desiccated brands, Gibson, Westinghouse, Tappan, and Kelvinator, their "life forces" squeezed and pressed, are no longer worth the cost of the appliance labels. Question: Is this the building of a new brand, or is this the destruction of a decades old North American vacuum cleaner brand? Us.....cynical.....never. |
|
| -AJ Madison added to our e-dealers. | |
| -The Consumer Product Safety Commission published a report indicating that certain gas range ovens can convert a standard kitchen into an unintended combustion chamber in certain operating conditions when installed with downward exhausting non-ducted range hoods. We are not sure who makes these ranges....but we believe everyone does. The only range hoods like this that we know of are the Gaggenau AH600 selling in the 10's or 100's if at all, and the Broan Allure which is selling we imagine well over 100,000 units per year under the Broan, Nutone, GE and Kenmore brands. Always vent your hoods out of the house. | |
| -The world appliance industry prepares for the 2003 Kitchen and Bath Show in Orlando Florida. The ApplianceAdvisor is checking its gear, cameras, cargo pants, arch supports, schedules, handi-wipes (for before and after I shake your hand) and a hefty supply of Tic Tacs and Tylenol and preparing to engage the world's appliance do-gooders, and no-gooders equally. When will the new Appliance Report be complete? Whenever we finish.........it will be right on schedule. | |
| -The
most versatile range in North America, has discovered one more way to cook
you |
|
| Mar 2003 |
-Month canceled for lack of interest. |
| Feb 2003 |
|
| -Scientific American Magazine discusses the concept of a refrigerant-free refrigerator using sound waves. | |
| -Mr. Tom Rehberg, a dear friend to all who knew him and to this advisor, died today February 26 after a short illness. Tom had been among other things a VP of Engineering at Superior Fireplace, Bowers Electrical Boxes, Thermador and Lennox Hearth Products, as well as the chief engineer of his sprawling model railroad housed in his basement. He raised the bar in each industry he entered with technical imagination, and a wonderful sense of humor. His job changes were always soon matched by several of his direct reports, because he was one of those rare managers of which it can be said; if you were on his team, he was on yours. He will be missed. | |
| Jan 2003 |
|
| -Verona Appliances, a New York importer of Italian cooking appliances is added to the site | |
| -Twin Eagles, a 3 year old company, started by Dante Cantal (who comes from Dynasty) making BBQs and other things near Disneyland, California, has made their presence known. | |
| -Excell Appliances, the brainchild of ex-DCS president Mike Markowich, launched their new and improved website. | |
| -CabanaKitchens is a new company with a new take on the crazy world of the American BBQ, adding an 18,000 BTU gas oven/broiler to the now familiar trophy BBQ layout. CabanaKitchens has been added to the BBQ presort on the Appliances page. |
