2005 Appliance News Archives
| Dec 2005 |
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| "Best
Buyout" Best Buy, for $410 million, acquired the high-end southern California retailer Pacific Sales with its 14 showrooms and $320 million of annual sales. Brian Dunn, president of Retail - North America for Best Buy said (in the press release anyway), "We have a high regard for Pacific Sales' employees, their culture, and their valued relationships with customers, vendors, contractors and remodelers.....Utilizing the existing store format, we expect to expand the number of stores in order to capitalize on the rapidly growing high-end segment of the U.S. appliance market." Though one could read this as good news all around, the press release includes significant negative items: -Pacific Sales founder Jerry Turpanjian plans to retire as soon as the acquisition is closed. -Best Buy veteran Phil Lee will replace him. No one at Best Buy corporate in Minnesota to represent and defend Pacific Sales and its "culture" during the expansion? No one promoted from within to replace Jerry? Best Buy likes to teach, but hates to learn? For whatever made Pacific Sales admired, different, special, we predict a death by a thousand cuts. |
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| Sadness
at Intercounty Mr. Jay (a.k.a. Jay Lebowitz) president of Intercounty Appliance Corporation, the Long Island, NY sub-group of the NECO Alliance and the Nationwide Buying Group, passed away Monday December 19 from a sudden illness. See obituary |
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| Changes
at MARTA and AVB (from TWICE....and other sources) Effective December 16, the MARTA Cooperative and Brand Source (AVB) have "merged", though it is called an "alliance", with a total combined 1500 member dealers. Warren Mann, Executive Director of MARTA will be replaced by David Workman who hails from the presidencies of both Warrentech Consumer Product Services and Ultimate Electronics. |
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| Franke
Enlarges Goldman's Territory Effective Dec 31, Franke has closed its distribution with Carl Schaedel shifted the territory (N. NJ) to Goldman Associates. CORRECTION: The effective date of the change will be February 1, 2006 |
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| Turbidity
Sensor Italy's Fabriano range hood empires have been consolidating for years but the process has accelerated of late, driven by steep steel prices, Italy's not so wise currency conversion to the Euro, entry of Turkish, Polish, Asian and Spanish suppliers, hideous employment regulations, and some generally bad investments. Fabriano is not such a festive place. Best was purchased by Broan years ago, TechnoWind is now in the Merloni Group, Faber sold out to Franke, Fox and JetAir were taken over by Elica. Effective December 13, TurboAir, the last of the independent majors, has been taken over by Elica. See Italy Wallstreet Journal article |
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| Maytag
Heaves Neptune T/L Over Side Maytag is closing its line of Maytag Neptune top loading washers and dryers originally launched at the 2003 KBIS. The Neptune T/L, like the Whirlpool Calypso sing soprano, that is they are vertical axis machines designed without an actuator. A quick skimming of web chatter on the T/L leans to problematic (wouldn't "Problematic" be a great name for a washer?). The Calypso was on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit in 2004 (See Aug 2004). And so the appliance industry, in its own way, has given Maureen Dowd her answer. |
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| Whirlpool
and WC Woods Snuggle Whirlpool and WC Woods have reached an agreement effective Feb 1, in which Woods will be licensed to sell all Whirlpool branded freezers (upright, vertical, and Sidekick pairs). This is not a change in product or production as WC Woods has been Whirlpool's freezer supplier for decades. By removing Whirlpool from the distribution stream; cost, paperwork, and time should be reduced. Is this really a good thing for Woods? How will Woods serve the dealer network and who will cover after-sales service? Frankly we are supposed to care, but the only thing about the freezer industry that sparks our interest is the occasional discovery of a pad locked unit holding a spouse with freezer burn. After that, not so much. |
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| AGA
Corners Market on Orphan Product Strategies Effective December 1, UK's AGA continuing its spending spree has purchased Heartland, Canadian maker of appliances that look like they're fueled by wood but aren't, joining AGA's 2003 acquisitions, Northland and Marvel. The price was C$3 million. |
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| Calling
All Price Increases Yes it is that time of year again, when manufacturers get together** to celebrate the new year with a lump of coal in all of our socks. Email us to report any official manufacturer price increases. **of course when we say "get together" we certainly do not mean to imply collusion, or that competitors collaborate on goals and strategies to achieve goals...all of which would be a crime, but if the recent warranty roll back is any guide they may well be sharing spit.....which is only a crime in Alabama. |
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| Nov 2005 |
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| Caldera
Hits Its Stride Caldera, the crunchy whole grain Vermont maker of high-end mid-priced gas and electric cooktops, has gone national with the addition of its first three distributors. -VAH Distribution for CA -Louis W. Howat & Son for LA, MS, AR, AL & West Half of TN. -Texas Sales & Marketing: for TX Additional distributor growth expected. UPDATE Nov 21: Actually Caldera had first used distributors in 1997. |
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| Maytag
Shrinks Maytag is closing its Florence, SC factory |
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| Fagor
Arrives FAGOR based in Spain and the fifth largest European appliance manufacturer has established North American major appliance distribution with LCI Distributors in FL, Milestone in Canada, and Design Appliance in the northeast. |
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| Oct 2005 |
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| Whirlpool
Short Sheets its Product Warranty Effective November 1, Whirlpool has renamed is "Full" one year warranty as a "Limited" one year warranty, and eliminated all limited warranty coverage that would normally have extended past one year, (with the exception of KitchenAid) Whirlpool makes the case that this eliminates "the confusion and complexity associated with the many variations of warranty coverage" of which there are supposedly 250 versions. Simplification is a wonderful thing, but the promise by VP of Sales Sam Abdelnour of "significant benefits to consumers" would be a deceit. Replacing a free service with either a costly Extended Warranty or the full cost of normally covered repair, is not a "consumer benefit". We suggest, for the sake of simplicity, that Whirlpool substitute an 18 to 24 month full warranty or that Whirlpool reduces prices. |
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| Whirlpool
Lies and Electrolux Swears to It Effective January 1, 2006 Electrolux will eliminate all finished goods warranties which extend beyond one year, and adjust all replacement part warranties from one year to 90 days. We love to curl up to a good Electrolux memo as they lack any hint of self-consciousness or embarrassment. (For example see April 2005: Swedish Chutzpah I & II). Excerpts from a memo from Electrolux Dir. of Warranty Admin Bill Lange to all Service Providers: "The consumer will benefit from this warranty change by having simplified warranty terms, and through improved product quality and after-sales care." "The changes in warranty coverage will result in increased profit opportunities for you. A higher percentage of the calls referred to you at no charge by Electrolux will be in the Out-of-Warranty category and subject to the prevailing fair market labor rates in each of your markets. In addition, there are increased margin opportunities through using Genuine Electrolux Parts, proprietary or universal, in repairing finished product." And where is the increased profit to the Service Provider coming from? I'm thinking the consumer. And how is changing the warranty going to improve product quality? |
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| GE
Joins the Pig Pile, Consumer on Bottom is Benefited Though Seemingly
Unconscious Effective January 1, 2006, GE will eliminate the extended warranty (anything over 1 year) for GE, Hotpoint and Americana brand appliances. GE further added: "While only implementing minor changes, GE Profile and GE Monogram appliances will be re-classified from "Full" to "Limited" warranties. This re-classification is focused on driving simplicity and consistency for our customers and consumers. The above actions will reduce the variation in our warranty across product lines and improve our ability to effectively communicate coverage to our consumers." Since brevity and directness is a hallmark of effective communication, ApplianceAdvisor would like to suggest a pithy line to add to the warranty, something like: "Hence forth, on the 366th day from the date of purchase of your GE, Hotpoint or Americana brand appliance, you are officially screwed." |
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| Maytag
Starts the Holiday Season with the Spirit of Taking Effective January 1, 2006, Maytag will follow its competitors warranty changes for all brands except Jennair. Last to the party but not least in their customer screwing, Maytag included a notice of a January 1 price increase on the same page with the warranty reduction memo. Now that's thrifty. |
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| ICON
and ALMO Split The Electrolux ICON brand will not be distributed by ALMO. We'll try to track down some details. |
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| Antonio
Merloni Extends Employee Vacation Benefits Indefinitely "Antonio Merloni", the Fabriano, Italy owner of ASKO and Eurotech is in the news. (not to be confused with Merloni Elettrodomestici, now known as Indesit Company, the manufacturer of the Ariston brand and owned by Antonio's brothers Francesco and Vittorio) It has been reported in Italian newspapers that upwards of 1000 Fabriano area employees will be allowed to connect their August shutdown, Christmas break, and frequent religious and local holidays into a continuous, uninterrupted and perpetual leave from their present employee related responsibilities. We are still checking into the cause of this unwelcome largess. UPDATE: Oct 21: Antonio Merloni is opening later this year a new lower cost Ukrainian production facility and will be reducing its Italian production employment over the course of the year through attrition, relocation, and finally layoff. |
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| ApplianceAdvisor
Launches New Pro-Portal Page for Appliance Pro-Fessionals The Marketing, Engineering, Component, OEM and Opportunity links have been reorganized in a New Pro-Portal page with additional advertising space for Component Suppliers, OEM Suppliers, and other appliance groupies. (click on the Pro-Portal link above or here) |
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| Distributor
Hires Retailer Hadco Distribution has hired Doug Kelly away from PC Richards where he was Director-Marketing Manager. Mr. Kelly will assume the position of Executive Vice President of Operations at Hadco in January of 2006. |
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| Katrina
Donations In a nearly selfless act of charity, Maytag and Zenon Environmental has donated 80 water filtration systems to Katrina relief. Each system is capable of processing 5000 gallons of drinking water per day. See Hurricane Katrina Sep 2005 below for additional industry donation updates, information and comments. |
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| Sep 2005 |
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| The
Range Hood Industry: Time to Pump the Cesspool Get Ready for the Perp Walk ..............cause we love 'da perp walk The Home Ventilating Institute ( HVI.org ) has accepted the ApplianceAdvisor's challenge to clean up the ly'in and cheat'in ways of the kitchen ventilation industry (see our July 2005 plea below) by testing rangehoods from brands which are not members of HVI. In fact as of September 29, the program was well underway with many suspect products having already been acquired and "tested in accordance with HVI testing procedures as described on the HVI website". Once tested, non-member brands will receive one of two letters from HVI. -The Honest: an invitation to join HVI. -The Seemingly Corrupt: an invitation to send another rangehood to the HVI certified lab at Texas A&M for a re-confirmation test. And what of these brands which are proved to be corrupt, where engineers, marketers and executives conspired purposely, to steal from their customers and their competitors, and to damage the very foundation of civilization, kicking out the pillars of civil society, all for selfish financial gain? Oh yahh, we'll be fair.....but we soooo love 'da perp walk. We'll be nam'in 'da names and brand'in 'da brands, and do'in the General William Tecumseh Sherman dance all over their bodies. |
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| The
Wizards of Oz........well to be precise, Sante Fe Springs Surjit Kalsi and Roberto Bernal, two of the three founders of Dynamic Cooking Systems (DCS) have "formally" joined Capital Cooking Equipment. Mr. Kalsi will take the position of Chairman of the Board, and Mr. Bernal, Co-Chairman. Kalsi and Bernal were amply rewarded when DCS was sold in September 2000 to Brockway Moran at the ohh-so-tipity tipity top of the market. Capital Cooking was launched in 2001 by Mr. Kalsi's son Richard and included a shockingly complete array of pro-style ranges, cooktops and BBQs. September 2005 marks the end of 5 years of Surjit Kalsi's contractual non-competition with DCS, 5 years that he could not in any way assist his son's Capital Cooking venture. So much that could not be discussed, so much wisdom that could not be shared. Kalsi family get-togethers were surely marked by awkward silences as the most important thing in their lives, kitchen appliances, forced them apart. Now after 5 years, after the lapse of the non-compete agreement, lawyers and the law will no longer have standing in the relationship of a father and his son. UPDATE: Sep 22: See interesting Press Release from Capital Equipment Company |
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| GE
Appliance Business for Sale? GE Chairman John Rice was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that some GE Industrial businesses may be best suited in the hands of others. GE Industrial includes lighting and appliances. Translated from Fortune-500 speak into the king's English, this means: "please God, someone, somewhere, take'th this infernal stone from around'st me neck, I hath suffer'd and are spent, and will'th throw'st in our Jet Engine Division if only to be release'd from this curse'd business, as a more tedious and wretch'd pursuit the mind is not so twisted as to imagine, dare say'th I", and all of this screamed from some rooftop. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/14/news/fortune500/ge_restructuring/index.htm If you or someone you love is interested in acquiring GE Appliance, send your proposal (and a self-addressed stamped envelope) to: John Rice General Electric Company 3135 Easton Turnpike Fairfield, CT 06828 UPDATE Sept 29: Today Chairman John Rice has received a surprisingly good offer by email. The little that we know is that Mr. Rice received a complex financial offer from the Vice President of Nigeria for $19.7 million which is now on deposit at the Wema Bank PLC Lagos. Mr. Rice is hoping to close the deal before the Nigerians back out. |
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| Hurricane
Katrina (Request for Industry Related News and Reports) Any industry news about representatives, dealers, distributors or manufacturers facility damage, or lack thereof, new contact information, reports of organized volunteer efforts by employees, equipment donations to the needy, ANY other programs related to Hurricane Katrina, or a simple "I'm OK") -Viking (Greenwood, Mississippi) was closed Tuesday but re-opened Wednesday Aug 31. -Housing: To Post or Find short term housing opportunities for Katrina evacuees such as apartments, cottages, condos, rooms go to: http://www.katrinahousing.org/ -Distributor Louis W. Howat's offices in Harahan, LA (15 miles west of N. Orleans) suffered no physical damage, but lost power and phones. Howat is operating out of their Memphis office and can be reached at 800-535-2673. Though Howat is planning to return to Harahan next week, some of Howat's employees won't have homes to return to. UPDATE Sept 16: The LA offices of Howat will be fully operational on September 19 UPDATE Oct 3: Per Appliance News: -Electrolux provided 4 field kitchens to help feed military and relief workers. This is nice. -Whirlpool is donating 126 washer pairs to the Red Cross to be used at temporary housing complexes, and in a bit of NBC Today Show PR related dementia, we surmise, Whirlpool employees will construct 50 pre-built homes in New York's Rockefeller Center, box them up and ship them to Louisiana and Mississippi. Employees from Michigan building homes in Manhattan and shipping to Louisiana? -Maytag in conjunction with Zenon Environmental are providing 80 water filtration systems, each capable of filtering 5000 gallons per day. The 80 machines are enough to provide drinking water for 600,000 people. This is more than nice, this is truly useful. The entire ApplianceAdvisor team thanks these corporations for helping in the rebuilding, but we give special recognition to Maytag for its creativity, practicality and selflessness in their particular donation. Water safe to drink cannot be branded, but let's try here. "Safe drinking water across the gulf coast, courtesy of the good people at Maytag" UPDATE Nov 9: Kenyon Custom aided the relief effort with (650) two burner ceramic electric cooktops for use in temporary housing trailers. Under this Katrina relief contract, Kenyon offered special heavy discounting. As of November 9, the program continues. All units were ordered, built and delivered in 3 weeks. |
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| Missing
Brands: Do these brands continue to exist? Our links and telephone numbers to these brands are dead Elan Stainless Explorer San Yang Pai UPDATE Sep 21: Repeated attempts to locate these 4 brands have failed. We assume that all are deceased. UPDATE Sep 23: We have a response that San Yang Pai actually continues to exist.......but they are not very good with computers.......or telephones evidently. We are also looking at removing Smeg (no US presence with end of DCS dishwasher supply) Chambers (Appliance International did not relaunch the brand as promised) Vestfrost (supplier but not a North American brand) Fox (supplier but not a North American brand) |
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| Aug 2005 |
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| New
Pro-Style Appliance Brand BKE Supply has expanded its Vintage BBQ brand into pro-style cooktops and warming drawers manufactured by Excell appliance, and is developing a 2-step national distribution network. The Vintage link has been added to our appliance brand list on the left side of this page. New Unknown Japanese Brand We have recently discovered a brand proud of its Japanese heritage yet selling a combi washer-dryer manufactured in Italy. We know little about the Supra America products, but their website is as poorly designed as any we have visited this year. So congratulations to them on that. |
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| MAYTAG
ACQUISITION NEWS FOR AUGUST (CLICK
HERE FOR OUR ACQUISITION PAGE) LATEST UPDATE: August 30 |
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| Jul 2005 |
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| Chinese
Fire Drill without the Chinese Mabe of Mexico has proposed an offer for the takeover of CAMCO of Canada, with the goal of acquiring 75% of company, the minimum necessary to go private. The CAMCO board has unanimously supported the offer (53% above Friday's closing price), which will be voted on by the shareholders in August. CAMCO's largest shareholder, GE with 51% has agreed to the offer, but other major shareholders have not yet indicated. CAMCO (C$642 million sales) distributes GE products and other brands, and manufactures washers and dryers. Mabe is a major Mexican brand in its own right, and perhaps GE's largest "outside" manufacturer of appliances. Mabe is 48% owned by GE. Is GE selling or is GE buying? Are they liquidating or consolidating? UPDATE: Sep 22: 97.3% of CAMCO outstanding shares have been tendered to a subsidiary of MABE |
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| MAYTAG ACQUISITION NEWS FOR JULY (CLICK HERE FOR OUR ACQUISITION PAGE) | |
| Indesit
Exposure Equator appliance of Houston is suing Italian appliance giant and one time supplier, Indesit (originally known as Merloni Electrodomestici) for "Breach of Contract, Breach of implied warranty and Interference with its contractual relationships with customers". The Equator complaint alleges that "Merloni changed certain aspects of the units design" causing failure rates to "jump significantly, including specific electronic components that caused product failures, electrical shorts, component malfunctions, control-board burn-outs, wiring harness meltdowns and machines catching fire." These are generally believed to be unattractive product features. Equator is looking to recoup the costs associated with the past and ongoing warranty service. Who is responsible, the manufacturer who designed and built the device, or the distributor who is marketing and distributing the product. We believe that if you build it you back it. Equator's final complaint "interference with its customers" was not explained in the press release, but we suspect it was not related to warranty costs. Needless to say, Equator has transferred its current business to its own factory in China. Comment from Indesit: We are awaiting their comment. |
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| The
Range Hood Industry: Time to Pump the Cesspool We have noticed that in the range hood industry, the use of fictional, illusionary, or highly exaggerated performance specifications is growing with the rise of imports. Some brands are promising performances twice as high as seems possible. As consumers can't confirm performance, there is no penalty to the corrupt brands, and in fact corrupt practice, and deceitful marketing has been rewarded with both market share and distributor growth. To our knowledge, the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) is the only organization with standardized range hood performance testing and certifications. In 2000 an ApplianceAdvisor editorial was instrumental in convincing the largest transgressor in coming over from the dark side and HVI certifying their product line in 2003. Now in 2005, the ApplianceAdvisor is here asking HVI to start a program to confirm by testing the promised performances of all other uncertified brands, and to release the results of this testing to the public, to smite the corrupt, and to reward the honest. To bring balance, and whole grain crunchy holistic stuff to this depraved and unscrupulous industry. I have a dream......smaller than most perhaps, but a dream nonetheless. UPDATE: July 17: The following brands are HVI certified for performance, meaning that these brands have a tested performance that matches their promised marketing performance. -Air King (undercabinet) -GE Profile -Universal Industries -Broan, Nutone, Best, Venmar -Fuji and Panasonic -Artech USA (certification nearing completion) For full HVI directory, go to the HVI page and click on "HVI Certified Products Directory" link on the left side of the page UPDATE: Sept 28: The HVI is acting on the ApplianceAdvisor's request. |
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| Why
Does this Stuff Always Happen In Florida I (see March 2006 for II) Florida distributor ARD, ARD Pres. Chuck Asarnow, Alfresco BBQ parent SES Brands, and SES president Jeffrey Bernstein are defendants in a suit filed by Florida distributor Alvent Distribution. Let's take a swing at explaining it. The Agreed Facts: 1) Fisher & Paykel cancels all of its DCS BBQ distributors, including ARD in October 2004 2) ARD reaches agreement with SES Brands for its Alfresco brand BBQ, at that time distributed by Alvent. 3) SES terminates Alvent's distribution agreement Dec 31, 2004. ARD starts distributing Alfresco Jan 1, 2005. 4) Alvent forms a relationship (of some kind) with BKE Supply, owner of the Vintage brand, which is OEM manufactured by SES. As these links show, the Alfresco line is virtually identical to the Vintage line, to the extent that I'm not sure that these are two different photo shoots. (Links open in new windows) Alfresco Vintage Facts in Contention: 1) The official complaint by Alvent says that a distribution contract with BKE existed for the Vintage line. Documents attached to the complaint seem to lend credence to the contention that some sort of business relationship existed (see documents linked below). The complaint claims that Alvent contacted BKE for the Vintage line at the prodding of SES and as a substitute for the Alfresco line. 2) BKE president, Don Henry, in a conversation with ApplianceAdvisor July 11, said that no contracted distribution agreement with Alvent had been finalized and that no business relationship exists or existed, and further that the Vintage brand has never had distribution in Florida. 3) The official complaint by Alvent says that ARD pressured SES, and that a conspiracy existed between ARD and SES to force BKE to terminate its distribution agreement with Alvent. Alvent claims to have learned this from BKE president Don Henry. 4) A source familiar with SES stated that a long business relationship with BKE has existed and that SES and BKE have a commonsense understanding not to hurt one another, but no contractual veto over distribution territory exists. Alvent bases their claim to a distribution contract with BKE on these documents. UPDATE: July 12. Upon closer inspection of the dates of the documents below, we have changed our observations. BKE Letter to all Vintage Distributors January 12, 2005 BKE Letter to Alvent March 4, 2005 The January 12 document is a much clearer indication that Alvent was the Florida distributor, but no signed distribution agreement was included in the complaint, so we assume that none exists. Is it unusual to be appointed distributor without a formal contract? The March 4 document in the very first line, "Here is where we are as I see it", says that this could be mid-negotiation. Though it could also be a post-agreement "getting up to speed" or, "what we now expect from our new distributor". Now that we see the dates, this March 4 document seems to greatly soften the granite-like solidity of January 12 document. A judge will need to judge. BKE was not named in the suit, but BKE is most directly involved with Alvent and seems to be the likeliest defendant. If Alvent hoped to use BKE in order to reach SES and ARD, our conversation with BKE on July 11 was not promising. -Can Alvent prove it was a distributor, without BKE's support of this contention? -Can Alvent prove that ARD and SES conspired to oust Alvent as a BKE distributor, also without BKE's support of this contention. Assuming Yes and Yes, were laws broken? Florida has a wonderful judicial system, they'll figure it out. |
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| In
shocking shake-up, Fisher
& Paykel USA sure to shift several resources to our shores shortening
shipping, so say certain sources. Shall displaced assemblers select to shave shaggy
sheep? You never know. In a well timed decision given the Maytag induced hand wringing by the press, Fisher & Paykel is shifting production of its Smart Drive Washers (Now made in Australia), and an electric motor line (Now located in New Zealand) "to North America in order to reduce costs of production, freight and working capital associated with supplying that market". Both lines will move to F&P's newly acquired DCS factory in Huntington Beach, California. CORRECTION Sept 28: Does it really make sense to build electric motors and washers in Southern California......evidently not. Both products will be assembled in a new factory in Clyde, Ohio. Other than being tied with Petersburg, ND as the 5th most boring community in North America, Clyde is also home to the largest automatic washing plant in the world, coincidentally owned by Whirlpool. What are the odds? |
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| Jun 2005 |
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| MAYTAG ACQUISITION NEWS FOR JUNE (CLICK HERE FOR OUR MAYTAG ACQUISITION PAGE) | |
| U-Line
Drive U-Line (undercounter fridges) has appointed new distributors to replace Freed (taken over by BSH, see May). U-Line has appointed Kimball for CO and UT, Sunwest for AZ, NM and southern NV, and Milestone for TX, LA, and southern MS. For Kimball and Milestone, U-Line ousted its chief rival Marvel (undercounter fridges), but not just oust, no siree, a serious ass whooping has been handed out here. And you just, I mean, you just sit down right there, and let me just tell you what happened here, and be careful not slip on the blood. Marvel is owned by AGA (never "off" ranges), which also owns Northland (deer sized fridges). Milestone carried all three of AGA's brands, and Kimball carried AGA and Marvel. These distributors took on U-Line, and dumped Marvel because in our analysis, they totaled up the possible AGA reactions: -pissed off English-accented phone calls -no more AGA wall plaques -awkward silences, sour expressions, and cryptic murmurings in upcoming distributor meetings -the chance, or maybe even the threat, that AGA would pull out all its brands They added all this up + the headache associated with any line changes, and still decided to go with U-Line. It says much about the power, the personality, and the cahones of just about everybody involved. |
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| Viking
Site Hacked As of Monday morning, June 6, the Vikingrange.com corporate website has been hijacked by what seems like Indonesian student hackers with way too much time on their hands. The message that they left in Indonesian and English roughly says:
Why Viking? Perhaps the Viking
marketing department has somehow managed to reach the backside of the
globe to unmarried students in agrarian, pre-industrial, non-English
speaking societies where charcoal is the predominant cooking fuel.
Viking may want to reconsider how their ad dollars are being spent. |
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| Faber
Absorbed Franke, (a Swiss maker of sinks and appliances) has completed its purchase of Faber (an Italian maker of range hoods). Effective May 31, Franke owns 100% of Faber. Franke and Faber have two separate distribution channels in North America so there is the possibility of Synergistic changes, but it is generally assumed that the real driver of the buyout was the European market where "Franke" distributes its own brand of appliances. Faber's Galassi family will remain at the helm of the Faber division.......which leads us to a general question for which we have never heard a satisfactory answer, related to the CEO of an acquired entity: How does the Master and Commander adapt to the new position of Cabin Boy? |
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| May 2005 |
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| MAYTAG ACQUISITION NEWS FOR MAY (CLICK HERE FOR OUR MAYTAG ACQUISITION PAGE) | |
| World's
unFair Home Depot signals the market that it ain't so great indoors. Home Depot, the rabbit in the "under-one-roof-design-concept" race is shutting down 15 EXPO Design centers and converting an additional 5 locations into Home Depot Stores. For those keeping track, these moves represent nearly 40% of all EXPO locations, leaving only 34 stores to carry the flag. The Sears Great Indoors, the turtle in this race, closed or converted 4 of its 21 stores back in August of 2003. For me, "self-immolation" runs a close second to "pick out wallpaper, colors, and hardware for the new bathroom" when considering what to do on a Saturday. I can appreciate the advantages of this one-roof concept. Why is it failing? Buying from and managing a thousand suppliers is something these guys know how to do. An idea from the Advisor: Between 1908 and 1940 Sears sold 75,000 - 100,000 complete home kits, shipping customers the plans as well as the lumber, pre-cut and numbered, ready for assembly. Could this service succeed in some way today? Home Depot is well placed to close the loop by promoting new construction, offering a batch of quality home designs, assembled from manufactured-housing sourced sections with Home Depot's assembly services, and topped off with interior design consulting and materials supplied by EXPO Design. One Saturday afternoon sitting with an EXPO design consultant, 9-12 months later moving in. Isn't it about time the Home Depot lived up to its name? UPDATE: Nov 7: We don't see dead people, but we can see the future. |
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| Freed
Captured Effective July 1, BSH (Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau brands) has purchased the assets of Freed Distribution based in Texas but covering the markets of TX, LA, AZ, NM, CO, UT, and 1/2 of MS, and 1/2 of NV. There were always primary and secondary drivers in BSH's development of direct distribution on the US east coast that muddied the waters of BSH's true intentions. The acquisition of Freed Distribution is a direct and crystal clear signal, to us anyway, that BSH will in short order acquire or cancel their entire 2-step distribution channel. Explanation for consumers way too interested in the appliance industry: A 2-step distributor provides 2 valuable services. 1) They allow smaller brands which could not possibly afford a national direct sales staff, to be represented by a sales force in a given territory (example Texas) by sharing this resource with other compatible brands (for example a dishwasher brand, a laundry brand, and a cooking brand). The distributor sales force will pitch all these brands with each dealer sales call. They will also leverage a "must have" brand to increase sales of another of its brands in a more competitive segment. 2) Distributors have warehouses and own product in their territory, increasing service to the dealer and reducing inventory risk and cost to the manufacturer. Distributors make a 25% to 30% margin for these services. BSH obviously believes that their product line is complete enough, and that their individual dealer sales are dense enough, such that the cost of direct sales will be less than this 25% to 30% distributor margin. GE, Whirlpool, Maytag, Electrolux, Miele, Dacor, and Fisher & Paykel, are sold in this way, while Viking thought better of it, and Sub-Zero straddles the line. |
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| Post KBIS |
KBIS
Early Report As your loyal self-appointed representatives to the world of major appliances, guardians of truth** and defender of the chivalrous code of appliance righteousness, we are pleased to report that we have visited each and every one of the nearly 100 appliance booths at the 2005 Kitchen and Bath Show. We were in the realm of the "whelmed", neither over nor under. As we await the delivery of our Box O' Press Kits, here are our early observations: -Induction Cooking is back with product launches by Wolf, Viking, Kenmore, Kenyon, Gaggenau, joining last year's entries Diva De Provence, Wind Crest, and Kuppersbusch. Lemmings have much to learn from the Appliance industry. -Technical Brilliance from a PR department?: The Maytag press kit was provided to reporters on a flash memory stick. Could this be the first "Best of Show" for press kit storage technology? We were actually a little emotional. We would have hugged her, but we're a little foggy on Magtag's policy on the matter. -Press Perks: Speaking for press everywhere, attempts to skew our reporting is embarrassingly weak. Dacor is once again well ahead of the pack with the gift of a high quality frying pan to each reporter. Honorable mention goes to Whirlpool with Dove Bars in the press room. Viking held an intimate cocktail party at the Bellagio for what looked like 1200 of their closest friends. -Comedian Howie Mandel and crew shot a segment for the Tonight Show to broadcast the week of May 16. -Martial Law Declared: The "no photography" rule was most rigidly enforced by Miele, Whirlpool, Viking, and Electrolux (who kept uniformed guards on hand). Only Viking included the press in these restrictions. -We received several reports of a roving band of 10 to 12 Korean engineers, snooping on competitors en masse, being ejected from booths only to sneak back in for continued snooping. Samsung complained that they had been struck as well. As there were no North Korean exhibitors we are unsure of their identity. -Triple Secret Probation: Many exhibitors were surprised and not in a good way when they discovered, after spending thousands of $$ to attend, that their booths were in small meeting rooms in the 9000 block, disconnected from the 2 main halls, and to visit required attendees to exit a main hall through doors marked "Emergency Exit Only". Here's how you missed them: -Down this hall behind the "Toto" toilet booth -Through this door marked "Emergency Exit Only" -Across this Lobby -Down this hall -Into this or several other small rooms -A "Seppuku" booth, not shown, was set up in Booth 9201 on day 3, and we understand traffic was brisk. We are curious if any non-Seppuku Exhibitors will ask for a rebate. New Brands Showing: -Antonio Miguel: with a most excellent ornate metal decoration and forming technology for hoods -Ariston: Large full line Italian brand enters market. -Delaubrac: Commercial-type French ranges for the home -DeLonghi: Italy made pro-like ranges with a famous name and a low price -Evo: Griddle-style outside grilling with a Sputnik-like design lost in the 9000 block of the show -Fagor: Large Spanish cooking appliance maker joins the party -Fulgor: Large Italian cooking appliance maker, likely to join ALMO distribution. -Foster: High-end Italian pro-styled cooking and creative design lost in the 9000 block of the show. -Grand Hall: Pro style ranges and cooktops from Asia aiming higher than NexRange. -Grimm: Forced outside air heatless clothes drying. -Meneghetti: Elan's supplier hoping to supply others -Metal Guild / Handcrafted Metal: Hoods made of Copper -MLD: Faux masonry custom hoods -Pando: Spanish hoods -San Yang Pai: Taiwanese hoods -Simeco: Turkish cooktops -Stone Age Design: I have no recollection of what this is. -Swift: Canadian cooktops and hoods lost in the 9000 block of the show. -TMIO: Internet and phone activated built-in ovens from a well funded or free spending start-up. -Twin Eagles: BBQ maker finally comes to KBIS -Yongkang Puneng: Chinese hood maker -Zhongshan Vantage: Chinese hood maker **Excluding those unfortunate instances, some which are now industry lore, when we have inadvertently mangled the truth. |
| Pre KBIS |
UPDATE
MAY 14: SHOW IS OVER The KBIS Dance Card is Here!!!!!!! The 2005 Kitchen and Bath Show Dance Card. Print for the Show Take the time remaining to train your landing crew with winning strategies including: -evasion tactics if confronted by a knob salesman -identification concealment when in enemy territory -casual enemy interrogation through the subterfuge of kvetching about one's boss, UL, or the Chinese -tactical public / private scratching and re-adjustment; always a popular course -rapid deployment to whichever booth is handing out the Dove Bars. There's much to learn, but there's still time to learn it. DANCE CARD UPDATE: "FCI" is actually "Fulgor", the Dance Card has been corrected. |
| Is
Maytag Headed for a Cliff? Several analysts are painting a sobering picture of Maytag's future. In the last several days analysts have predicted bankruptcy, multiple plant closures and a resulting hemorrhage related to closure costs. In fact the most upbeat assessment that we could find was that Maytag would loose its independence within the next couple of years. Will Haier, which missed the opportunity of buying Amana, or Samsung, make the first move? |
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| Apr 2005 |
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| Capital
Downloads on Dealers Effective April 1, Capital Cooking dealers who display product on the floor may also display product online, but are banned from online sales, or the online display of pricing, incentives, or shipping policies, and dealers may not sell outside of their territory. We are curious what Capital would do if Abt made an online sale to Hawaii. Rules are rules, but Abt is Abt. |
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| Blue
Star Distributors Taken to Wood Shed Prizer-Painter, makers of the Blue Star pro-style ranges, has communicated to all of its distributors, and particularly, Signature Marketing of NY, Goldwest of CA, and DKA of FL, that the sale of Blue Star appliances through online dealers must stop. Online dealers have been low balling prices, selling into territories without an existing service network, or selling into another distributor's territory where service is managed by, and in these cases refused by, that territory's distributor. |
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| Lynx
Professional Grills acquires CabanaKitchens Lynx (purchased by an investor group in September 2004) acquired the assets of CabanaKitchens, a firm started in 2002 by Clyde Williams and which originated the outdoor range (BBQ with oven). The CabanaKitchens brand will survive, and Clyde Williams will join, in the merged entity. |
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| Smoke
'Em If You Got 'Em Overheated, under-ventilated, and a tobacco fog dense enough to make one yak last week's dinner. Sign me up. Domotechnica is official for Cologne February 13 - 16, 2006 |
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| Swedish
Chutzpah I Swedish business newspaper "Dagens Industri" reports that Electrolux has sent a letter to all of its global material and service providers "demanding" a 21% price cut retroactive to January 1, and over and above any other price reductions already committed to. "Dagens Industri" reports the letter was signed by 3 Electrolux Global purchasing executives including US VP of Purchasing, Don Market. If you can read Swedish: The Dagens Industri Article If not, see below. A joke, no? Could a supplier read this letter without breaking into a convulsive laughter of blood-vessel-bursting, underwear-soiling proportions? Why not a 63.9% reduction retroactive to November 11, 1967, reimbursement (with interest) in cash or the slavery of the supplier's woman folk? A demand for a 3% - 6% cut is a very frightening thing indeed, because it is possible. A 21% cut is comedy, insanity or farce. Our favorite scenario: 3 global "executives", stoned out of their minds, already having affixed "Out of Order" signs to the elevators, left buttock prints on the 6th floor windows, flashed the Turkish night cleaning crew, telephoned bomb threats to the Norwegian embassy, and committed 2 additional assaults on Swedish neutrality....after all of that, the brilliant idea of torturing the suppliers was suggested, and heartily seconded. After hitting "Send", they laughed for 20 minutes. Did it happen this way? Does anything else make sense? DEAR ELECTROLUX SUPPLIERS: What are your thoughts. You will be kept Anonymous. FEEDBACK PAGE |
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| Swedish
Chutzpah II Translation of main points from the original article in Dagens Industri: 2005-04-12 by Johan Öberg "Electrolux expects a reduction in cost of 21% from the materials/services you deliver to Electrolux." - Electrolux's letter to every one of their suppliers dated March 18th was worded very bluntly, and stated Electrolux expects cut in supplier's prices of 21% retroactive to January 1st this year. - The letter stated in part: "We look forward to receiving your detailed action plan/recommendations within 10 days before we move on to the next phase of this process." It was signed by the three exec's responsible for procurement. - Jacob Broberg, Electrolux spokesman: "We confirm issuing the letter, but we are publishing our quarterly report shortly and it is too soon to answer any questions. We offer no comment to reactions from our suppliers, nor how many suppliers have committed to this severe price-cut." "It is part of our strategy for cutting costs." "We are also considering using suppliers from low-cost countries, and moving parts of our own production to low-cost countries." - Electrolux is facing stiff price competition, mostly from Asian manufacturers such as Korea's LG Electronics. - The letter uses formulations that practically reek of desperation. "As you are aware the industry's manufacturers as well as retailers are being exposed to extraordinary sharp competition in the market place. Electrolux is no exception and we are willing to take extraordinary and immediate measures to remain competitive in this changed environment. If we cannot answer this new market climate together, we stand to both lose substantial market share." |
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| Mar 2005 |
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| Unsolved
Product Placement Mystery We have failed you, we are not worthy. A reader recently asked us to identify the kitchen range in the CBS sitcom "2-1/2 Men" (Monday 9:30PM Eastern), but alas, we could not. Can you? It looks to be an unusual non-pro range of greater than 30" width. Could it be European? Why don't we ever get requests like...."What was the chocolate sauce used in 9-1/2 Weeks?" UPDATE: Well that was fast. We have received a guess that these might be from either "Explorer" or "Stainless", two smaller US brands distributing Euro-products. |
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| Second
Round of Price Increases?? CONFIRMED We have received one report that both Whirlpool and GE prices are going up another 5% - 10% June 2005. As the story goes, the increase is being blamed on steel prices and will be announced April 1. Is this true? This would be on top of the 5 - 10% increases effective January 2005. We are looking for some reader confirmations. UPDATE: March 28: Nothing, nada, zip, nobody has confirmed this. UPDATE: March 29: From one of our readers: "GE has announced a selective 5% increase effective May 1. The GE price increase was “leaked” at the AVB/Brand Source convention in Dallas..... to see how Whirlpool will react. Electrolux (Frigidaire) is waiting to see if Whirlpool follows GE to announce their own price increase...." UPDATE: March 30: Electrolux Letter sent to Dealers
UPDATE: April
5: A reader has emailed that: |
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| Is
DCS Telling Its Commercial Customers to Buy American? We have one unconfirmed report that DCS's commercial range business, which was shut down after the Fisher & Paykel acquisition, has been sold to commercial range maker American Range. Neither American nor DCS could be reached for comment on this story. American Range, with ambitions of entering the residential range business, may yet be of interest to us. |
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| Law
and Order: Trademark Infringement Unit Sub-Zero has filed suit against Ajax Philadelphia, Inc, owner of the online dealers Cuttingedgekitchens.com and Cstorestuff.com, neither of which carry Sub-Zero products. The complaint alleges an unfair use of trademark in that Ajax "sponsored" the search term "Sub-Zero" in the Google and Yahoo search engines and that this sponsorship resulted in the listing of the Ajax websites when searching "Sub-Zero". Ajax has ended the practice while the case is open. We surveyed exactly one unaffiliated corporate attorney for this story, and it was her feeling that this was an unfair use of trademark. We have a report that Distinctiveappliance.com was contacted by Sub-Zero. Is Ajmadison.com screening their registered mail? For a more official description of the trespass see Yahoo/Overture's Trademark Page. NOTE: No trademark was injured in the reporting of this story. A representative of the ASPCT was on hand at all times. UPDATE: March 27: It has been reported to us, and we have confirmed that a Google search of "Thermador Appliance" and "Viking Appliance" brings up the "Subzero.com" or "Wolfappliance.com" corporate websites as sponsored links. Oh my! Did someone just get caught in their own zipper? Is this case over or did it get larger? Or have we just missed the point of the original case? We'll let you know when we know. UPDATE: March 27: While the entire appliance industry considers suing one another, let's remember that ApplianceAdvisor.com brings not just problems, but also solutions. We have learned that you are not complicit in these great wrongs, and that big-daddy-deep-pockets, Google.com, and its squad of nefarious computer monks manipulated you to cross to the dark side of trademark misuse, or at least that's what a French court says? See New York Times Article |
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| Feb 2005 |
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| The 2004 Kitchen and Bath Show
Report finally released Finally, after months of procrastination, faked sports injuries, the supposed deaths of several distant relatives, extended trips to places without phone service, and at least one employee who joined the active duty military, we have been able to beat the 2004 report out of our staff........just in time to prepare for the 2005 show. |
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| BSH
Ends "Relationship" with Hadco Effective February 21, 2005 BSH has terminated its relationship with HADCO. BSH will direct sell to dealers in the Southeast (AL, DE, GA, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, and DC, and selected parts of AR, FL, and MS). The thing about a soap opera is that it's never really over, but possibly the train wreck aspects of this soap opera are now officially behind BSH, and the expensive process of rebuilding can begin. So let's summarize: Hadco distributes Thermador in Southeast for many many years. Everyone is happy. BSH convinces Hadco to expand into New England to take over from Clark. Hadco Northeast created: April 2002 Something then happens, BSH is thought to be happy, and Hadco is thought to be unhappy, but no one is confirming what happened or who is happy. Soon, it is generally believed, everyone is unhappy. BSH buys out Hadco Northeast: December 2003 BSH is probably unhappy, and Hadco is probably happy and relieved. Hadco buys Viking's southeast distributors and starts distributing Viking: February 2004 Viking is relieved, Hadco is happy with a vengeance, and BSH is certainly unhappy, if not desolate but no one is confirming who is and who is not happy, nor the relative levels of said happiness. BSH stops distributing through Hadco Southeast, ends relationship with Hadco: February 2005 BSH is likely relieved, while Hadco may have no opinion...... Is this the last chapter? Stay tuned. |
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| Viking
Spites Face, Ends Relationship with Nose Effective end of March, Viking will stop distributing Viking products in western Canada through the Viking owned distributor Northern Pacific Appliance Distributing. Viking created Northern Pacific in January 2002 with the people and facilities of the old GPM Distribution. Viking plans to distribute in western Canada through Seattle based Gateway Distribution. As soon as we have information as to the cause of the change and the final destination of Viking's equity in this outfit we'll let you know. With this move, Viking ends its foray into the distribution business. |
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| KitchenAid
Evacuates from Internet We have received reports recently that KitchenAid has enacted a national policy on web sales. For 2005, no KitchenAid products may be displayed or sold online. Only in-store display and sales will be allowed. See Universal Appliance Was there an event steering KitchenAid down the path of Luddite happiness? |
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| Jan 2005 |
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| 2005
APPLIANCE
PRICES ON RISE. This is what we have heard: With the US$/Euro/steel/Chinese situations, we have collected end of year price increase % for as many brands as we could. Results so far reported Send any updates to advisor@applianceadvisor.com |
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| "I
Am A Jelly Donut !" Home Tech 2006 (February) in Berlin has been canceled to be replaced by Domotechnica 2006 (February) in Cologne. This will likely be the worst news of my day. We are going to miss Berlin's Extreme Makeover. My last trip to Berlin in 1986 had a paranormal level of paranoia and included several check points with East German guards in badly tailored uniforms, a quick jaunt to the Commy-land side with the Hollywood quality bullet holes and war damage and a less than festive cast of thousands. The guns, the dogs, the wall and the guard posts, the dual use highways which transitioned into airport runways for use in a future war. Disneyland has much to learn from the way East Berlin created an all encompassing E-ticket theme. The theme of another trip to Cologne: dread. |
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| Jade
Re-a-range Jade's Director of Sales and Marketing Mark Russell has pulled up stakes and decamped to Gaggenau in the position of Director of Sales and Marketing. May-tag Team Maytag executive VPs William Beer and Thomas Briatico have been let go (effective Jan 31) after a combined 61 years with the company, as reported by Appliance News. |
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| These
Things Always Happen in Threes Maytag products will no longer be offered by Best Buy. Maytag claims the reason is based on a drop in sell through. Best Buy has made a habit of sourcing from the east, and we don't mean Hoboken. With Home Depot's LG agreement, we read this as negative #2 for Maytag. |
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| Prize
Fighter Prizer, maker of Blue Star brand pro ranges, has signed distributors Tri-State of Seattle and Shady Oak of Minnesota....with a third distributor falling into place but not yet public. |
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| Viking
Whispers in the Air (CONFIRMED) We have received today multiple reports of executive departures, and possible changes in the Viking distribution strategy. We have not been able to confirm. Can anyone fill us in? UPDATE: Jan 19: Unconfirmed reports that Viking is selling off its wholly owned distributors (Northstar of Michigan, Lakeview of Chicago) effective July 1, to a California investment group. If true this would be a continuation of Viking's 1 year old strategy of unloading its distribution investments (See "Breathtakingly Confirmed Report #1" Feb 2004). UPDATE: Jan 26: Confirmed in Viking press release: NorthStar and LakeView to be sold, effective July 1, to David LaFollette and Ken Sweet "former executives with a large major appliance builder supplier on the West Coast". UPDATE: Jan 20: Confirmed: Phil Gafka has departed Lakeview Distribution. |
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| Is
Whirlpool Screwing a Buddy? Fisher & Paykel CEO John Bongard denies having any knowledge of or being aware of or even being lucidly cognizant of any attempt by Whirlpool to takeover Fisher & Paykel. This reported by Bloomberg.com on Jan 16. The denial was a necessary response to a report in the New Zealand Sunday Star-Times. Whirlpool and Fisher & Paykel have been working together under a far reaching and friendly agreement. A very friendly agreement. Our opinion is this: If John doesn't know, it isn't happening. If it's happening, then John knows......and finally, only John knows if it's happening !!! My head hurts. If we are wrong, and Whirlpool is secretly buying out a friend..........well just you know, that we at ApplianceAdvisor are going to find Whirlpool President and CEO Jeffrey Maurice Fettig's mother, and tell her all about what her son has been up to. |
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| "You
Can Do it, We Can Help.....Put Maytag Out of Business!" LG signs deal with Home Depot to sell refrigerators, washers and dishwashers starting Q2, 2005 UPDATE: Jan 24: LG has signed to sell through the Nationwide Buying Group |
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| ASKO
Change in Southeast Westye Mid-West dropped ASKO earlier this year. Rumor has it that ASKO has cancelled Westye Group Southeast. The various Westye distributors, named for Mr. Westye F. Bakke, the father of Sub-Zero, are owned by Sub-Zero. This would be a break in the ASKO strategy we first reported on in December 2001 (see "Quick ASKO Distributor Update") It is believed that ASKO and subsidiary brand Eurotech will be moving the business to HADCO. UPDATE: Jan 18: Unconfirmed reports that Westye Mid-South located in Dallas, only a few miles from ASKO HQ, has also been dropped. |
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| Küppersbusch
responds to our November 2004 news item "Music
Stops at Küppersbusch" (see below) Click to see their response |
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| BSH
Change in Southeast Appliance News reports that effective January 4, BSH is giving appliance dealers in HADCO's southeast territory the option of either: -ordering Thermador, Gaggenau and Bosch directly from the factory. OR -ordering Thermador, Gaggenau and Bosch from HADCO as they have been doing. HADCO will now distribute BSH brands on a non-exclusive basis. So many question, so little time: -Why would BSH choose this? Does anyone know? What strategy is this? -We see advantages for HADCO. Do they lift a finger promoting BSH brands? This must be all cream for them. -Where were the reports from our faithful readers? We had to read this in Appliance News? |
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| In
From the Cold DCS refugee and ex-VP of Sales and Marketing Tom Caulfield has rejoined Outdoor Concepts Inc (OCI), of Westminster CA, a maker of BBQs and assorted outdoor accessories he helped start up. Several DCS executives created OCI but sold their stakes when Brockway-Moran acquired DCS, (can't you just picture the conflict of interest paragraph of Brockway-Moran's employment contract). Tom has rejoined OCI fulltime and taken a substantial equity position. |
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| Twin
Eagles Mating DUCANE-CANADA refugee and ex-CEO Paul Cates has joined Twin Eagles as V.P. of Sales and Marketing in another sign of continued growth. |
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| Almo
Recapitalizes -ALMO has chosen Capital Cooking to replace DCS as its anchor brand. Capital was ostensibly founded by Surya Kalsi, the son of one of the (3) founders of DCS. Can Capital keep up with ALMO's demand? ALMO probably lost a good chunk of demand with all the changes, but it will still be fun to watch. -Rumor has it that Almo will be representing Electrolux's Icon brand........which may be the last nail in the coffin in the year ago rumor that Electrolux was going to buy Dacor. We held out hope right up to the fall of the ball +3 hours on December 31, but alas, the Dacor deal was not done......and perhaps was only a figment of our collective imaginations. |
