Nortek Sucking Wind
Submitted by advisor on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 10:32pm.
Providence Business Journal reports that Broan parent Nortek (HQ in Providence) may be unable to pay its debts due 2010. Nortek president Richard Bready blames the economy for their hardships. (Not very original we agree, but seems believable.) Nortek appliance subsidiaries include rangehood brands Broan, Nutone, Best, Venmar, and Zephyr. (Which reminds us all that Zephyr may have been clairvoyent in their decision to sell out to Nortek in 2007).
This story dovetails nicely with industry rumor that Broan and/or Best are being shopped around. Doesn't make it true of course.
The Providence Biz Journal
The Nortek website
Pricing
A good portion of this I think is due to the distribution base looking for lower prices to make the sale easier instead of selling value , especially the Zephyr line.Some of the distribution chain is only interested in moving equipment and not making money. The manufacturers need to look at some of that base of distribution. Don't get me wrong ,distributors are very important to the success of an organization but from my experience Nortek needs to do a sniff test on some of theirs. This is all my opinion of course.