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June
2008
News Tip Link 
Sextuple Bypass Effective July 1, 2008
Sirius, Italian manufacturer of high-end rangehoods, has reconfigured its North American product distribution.
     1)  Sirius distributors will purchase product in container loads directly from Italy instead of sending orders to, and taking product from, the Sirius USA warehouse.
Sirius said, "This positive step has been taken in order to eliminate the unnecessary cost of a lengthy distribution chain and to ensure that the product line remains price competitive under the current and evolving market conditions."
Other changes:
     2)  Sirius Italy will take over the management of marketing, promotion and show planning. 
     3)  The Sirius USA warehouse will be closed effective July 1 2008. 
     4)  An inter-distributor inventory management and shipping program has been structured to ward against stock-outs and trans-Atlantic backorders.
     5)  A MAP (Minimum Advertised Pricing) program has been launched to limit cross territory internet sales. 
     6)  Sirius USA President Allen Lombard takes on the newly created position of North American Market Dvlp Mgr directly with Sirius Italy.
Sirius said they "will of course continue with the high standard of customer service and after sales support through a national service company." 
This Time Next Year:  News from June 2009
1)  Sales growth of combi (all in one) washer/dryers and compact washers and dryers.
2)  Death of the Side by Side refrigerator reported.....and not a moment too soon.
3)  Luxury brands launch down market "aspirational" and "builder" product lines to leverage brand equity and protect annual revenues.
4)  A new day for (2) step distributors as economic priced smaller import brands gain a foothold.
5
)  Average gasoline prices temporarily rest at the $4+ per gallon level unless Israel attacks Iranian nuclear facilities and air force assets...then gas hits $8.
6)  The premise of appliance sales over the internet teeters upon the cost of national shipping.
7)  Luxury brands follow GE Monogram and Fisher Paykel / DCS to Mexico.
8)  Pro-style dies...finally.  Death certificate indicates cost of stainless, smaller homes, a failure to perform, and inane ergonomics.  Pro-style is a joke manufacturers have pulled on consumers who think they can cook.  Euro-style grows to take up the slack.
9)  Explosive growth of projects for development of urban-ring condo towers convenient to mass transit.  
10) Un-gentrified urban wastelands rediscovered.  Displaced poor and working class continue shift outside outer ring, secondary urban areas and hopelessly set adrift in suburbs.
11) Kitchen remodels drop.  Appliance sales trend away from discretionary upgrades to failure related urgent replacement.
12) Dealer and distributor inventories grow to improve service levels.
13) Mom and Pop dealers finally catch a wind. (this is good)
14) Birth rate drops slightly...except in Gloucester.  Future Gloucester appliance sales expected to be sterno-related.
15) Home ownership drops (confirmed by NYT).  Rental rate stays level or drops.  How?  Single occupancy rentals drop and "Boomerang Generation", (grown children moving back with parents), includes growing number of grown married children with children of their own.
16) Pure electric non-hybrid vehicles become the de rigueur 2nd vehicle inside the urban ring.  First thousands arriving from China are 3-wheeled enclosed vehicles registered as motorcycles.
17) Electric space heating gains.  Wood pellet industry gains strongly
18) National average electric rates rise to 15¢ KWH even before carbon tax, with 20¢ and 25¢ impatiently waiting in the wings.  
      Note:  Assume in 10 years that actual appliance electricity usage cost to be at least 3 times higher than the DOE Yellow Card estimate.
19) Green marketing of polluting brands and products explodes with mixed results.  Marketers wrestle with the problem of trying to educate and sensitize the consumer but not so much that they understand the issue. (coal, hybrid SUVs, BP, and some of our favorite appliance brands).
20) GE appliances languishes unsold like a Florida condo.  Its perceived value falling faster than GE can adjust its selling price.
21) UPDATE:  Two needs mutually satisfied?  Florida's empty homes and condos are rented on 6 month leases to northern retirees fleeing winter heating costs
22)
UPDATE:  Northern plumbers tied up October through December winterizing homes of newly minted snow birds.
23) UPDATE:  Miami Dealer.  Miami's general contractors & roofers are backlogged 6+ months since 2008's Cat 5 hurricane "Fiona" destroyed or damaged 80% of the homes. With power grids finally back on-line, construction is full swing.  Californians fleeing sky-high taxes and inflated property cost, and unimpressed by Florida's insurance costs, are shopping for bargains among Miami's abandoned properties.
24)  YOUR PREDICTIONS HERE
Plan accordingly
IS THERE ANY GOOD NEWS OUT THERE?!!
We need just a little bit of good news, even the smallest morsel, the thinnest thread of something remotely positive in the appliance industry.   We'll take what we can get.

UPDATE June 23:
  Manufacturer
Custom hood maker Metallo Arts plans to double workforce in next 6 weeks to meet growth since KBIS.  Also will be location of "American Chopper" type reality show.

UPDATE June 18: 
Manufacturer
Part of my morning routine is to check the latest news on your website. It must be bad out there when you have no good news and no job postings on your website. As much as I hate to admit it, there is something to be said for the Celtics win over the Lakers. I’m not a huge sports fan, but I am tired of all the over-paid athletes with a major attitude (aka Kobe Bryant). So be proud my friend, that Boston has brought it home & rightly so. Congratulations on the Celtics win!   There must be dancing in the streets right now – don’t party too hardy!

UPDATE June 18: 
Southeast Dealer
I am not sure what is going on elsewhere, but a little ole distributor in the Carolinas and Virginia is up 10% thru May with the best June we have EVER had going so far!  Life is Good!!

UPDATE June 17: 
Northeast Dealer

In the last 6-12 months, my sales of energy efficient appliances have exploded.  We live in a country built around cheap fuel. To have prices skyrocket in just a few short years is certainly a difficult adjustment for everyone but it's a good thing too. In a few more years, as we make adjustments, it won't bother us anymore.  The general public is finally aware of the savings involved in energy efficient products such as appliances, vehicles, etc. Perhaps the public will finally realize that the $299 washer costs far more over its life than a more efficient model.
Smarter consumers and more sales of more efficient appliances, will be good for all of us in the long run.  We'll tough it out this year, but next year is the beginning of the next boom.  As people make the proper adjustments in their lives, things will start to pick up again. Just give it time. Things will be good.
Sub-Zero Dips Toe in Costco       CONFIRMED
The Sub-Zero free standing wine storage unit model 424FS/G is available at both the Oak Brook, IL and downtown Chicago (Lincoln Park) Costco locations with a list price of $2750, about $600 less than UMRP.  Is it just us, or does that seem expensive?  
These units are not listed on the web, nor available in every Costco region (there are 6).  The full extent of availability is unknown.
Wringing out an overstock perhaps?  Dent and Ding units are unlikely.  A distributor dump through Costco is unlikely.  Evidently whatever the driver, independent dealers are having a hard time squaring Costco availability with the mandatory floor plans and rules of UMRP that they do business under.
We said this kind of thing couldn't happen.  Don't we look silly. 
Unanswered Questions about the 2008 KBIS New Products Pavilion   EXCLUSIVE
June 15, 2008
110 products were in the Pavilion paying $350 for table display and $600 for floor display.  Votes were collected from visitors for Best NEW Kitchen and BEST new Bath products.  The Lance Larkin 10-cup coffee maker was voted winner in the kitchen category, beating out the kitchen products listed below.  Video of Acceptance Speech
     -American Range French Door Wall Oven
     -American Range Outdoor Steakhouse Broiler
     -American Range Hybrid Range
     -Broan QDE Range Hood Series
     -Broan Elite XE Trash Compactors
     -Capital Cooking Equipment Precision Series 30" Self Clean Ranges
     -Euro Cast Design Inc Ultra-Light Cast Travertine Kitchen Hoods
     -Fagor New 24" side door opening convection oven
     -Fagor New Induction Cooktop
     -Fuji decorative Keystone Chimney Hood
     -Lance Larkin 10 cup Brew Express:  Voted Best New Kitchen Product of 2008
     -Liebherr CS 2062
     -Liquid Stainless Steel faux stainless paint
     -Metallo Arts Inc Kitchens
     -Perlick's Fully-Integrated Signature Series
     -Scotsman Gourmet Clear Ice Machine
As much as we like the spunky little company with the niche built-in coffee product, the addition of a 10-cup product to their 4-cup model is not, to us, the makings of a "Best New Kitchen Product".  We wondered what the voting looked like, but after 2 months of trying to get the voting results from the KBIS PR firm Trent and Company, the KBIS sponsor K+BB, we finally heard back 2nd hand from show producer Nielsen Business Media (owner of K+BB and a sibling AC Nielsen the TV ratings service).

I just heard back from Atlanta and unfortunately, they said that they don’t release that information. 

Nielsen refused to respond to us directly.  We contacted a few of the non-winners who had paid to enter the Pavilion and the competition, and they were not provided voting results either.  The New Products Pavilion generates between $38,000 and $66,000 for Nielsen.  The winner nets real marketing value.  Though we have nothing to indicate anything untoward took place in the competition, our difficulty in obtaining the results does make the imagination do a back flip.
 
The structure of the New Products Pavilion competition MUST be reorganized BOTH to eliminate the potential for corruption AND to build a foundation of legitimacy and propriety for the competitors.
     -Voting MUST be tallied by a 3rd party
     -Voting results MUST be made public
     -Voters should vote for up to (3) different products in Kitchen and another (3) in Bath, not just one each.
     -Voters MUST have their identities "scanned".

Our choice?  We love you all, but did you see that Liquid Stainless Steel?  That stuff looks great.  Why didn't someone think of that before?
We know, we know..... it's a cop out.

Sunday's Digression Digest
June 15, 2008
For anyone who has read or written an appliance manual, read Lenore Skenazy's diatribe against product information which assumes or maybe confirms that consumers are imbeciles at best.  Unlike the Crayon industry discussed by Ms Skenazy, our industry has proof that consumers are not nearly the equal to the appliance responsibilities they have taken on.  Just imagine how much better all our lives would be if Appliance-Ed were up there with Driver's-Ed, and Sex as a right of passage.....sigh.
A few quotes from a randomly chosen rangehood manual:
     -"Do not touch the bulbs immediately after use.  The bulbs will remain hot for several minutes."
     -"Before servicing or cleaning the unit, switch power off at service panel and lock service panel."
     -"NEVER PICK UP A FLAMING PAN, you may be burned."

As our customer's ability to read or just focus on a single thought for 15 seconds declines, we have, in inverse proportion, perversely responded by creating all encompassing User Manual monstrosities.  How long until our manuals provide instruction normally covered by the autonomic nervous system ("upon tightening the screw, exhale fully").  Can we not assume a certain level of common knowledge of our customers with the understanding that those who, regrettably, get cut from the team were simply lucky to have played this long.  Let's dedicate ourselves to keeping manuals to 6 pages or less.

Lenore Skenazy also recently gained a level of infamy and our admiration for allowing her 9 year old to travel New York's subways alone.  This reminds me of my frequent weekend 4 mile bicycle treks to my grandparent's upon my beloved Raleigh Chipper when I was 6.  The route was an old sharply curved Indian path that had been widened to allow 2 cars to pass, but not 2 cars + 1 bicyclist.  The Sports Man's Club was a rough blue collar bar in the neighborhood which produced an endless variety of long remembered wrecks.  Every tree, or rock or telephone pole on those 4 miles had a story, or several.  The human blood puddle which formed with each rain storm at the base of the tree notable for the motorcycle disc brake jammed several inches into it.  Mooney's Hill where a sudden downward angle and veer to the right gave several motorcyclist the momentary thrill of weightlessness followed quickly by the perpetual downer of death or paralysis.  The family on a curve that installed several cubic-yard blocks of concrete to protect house and lawn from the regular roll overs.  Seems to me that a 9 year old on the subway is no great shakes.

UPDATE June 23:  Reader Comment
Way back in 1989 I was a rep for the Miele line of vacuum cleaners. As a motivated sales rep, I while reading the user manual as product training, I came across a passage that said something like:     "Do not pick up gasoline or flammable liquids".

In a discussion with some of the top people at Miele, the subject of the user manuals came up. The context of the discussion was that the manuals were printed English language translations of the German language manuals, and sometimes there were comical results.  I raised the issue of the passage about sucking up gasoline.

Surprisingly, not only were they aware of the passage, they had a story about why the passage was included.  Seems there was a high end yacht several miles off the east coast.  The yacht had a gas leak, and the 'customer' apparently used the Miele Vac as a wet vac to suck up the gas.  The resulting explosion sunk the yacht - and now every Miele Vacuum user manual warns against sucking up gas.

20 years later, here is the actual current manual verbiage:  "Do not use to pick up flammable or combustible liquids, such as gasoline, or use in areas where they may be present. The vacuum cleaner could explode."
Franke Exchange       EXCLUSIVE  AND  CONFIRMED
June 11, 2008
Franke North America President Michael Babula left the company on Monday June 9, and may have been shown the door. 
Sources tell us that Mr. Babula was brought in from Baldwin Brass by his predecessor, president Helmut Brockelmans.  Mr. Babula replaced key Franke-North America managers with more Baldwin Brass people. The Baldwin team tried to merge Kindred and Franke brands together with disastrous results in sales for both lines.  Franke North America then tried to force its distributors to take on a new Franke branded hood line or else lose the sink and faucet lines. Dealers and distributors are peeved over deliveries since Mr. Babula moved the Franke brand sinks from the Hatfield, PA headquarters warehouse to the Ruston, LA manufacturing sink plant & warehouse. Sales have plummeted.
The next president has a hell of a mess to clean up.
No replacement has been named.
  FUEL PRICE CRISIS / RECESSION :  REQUEST FOR READER INPUT
What are you doing, thinking of doing, contemplating doing, or heard that others are doing?
What is your business doing to counteract energy prices and the recession?  
     -Employee programs
     -Spiffs, discounts
     -Freight ideas
     -Product mixes, shift reductions, layoffs, material changes, project cancellations
     -Reduced work days.
All Comers:  Manufacturers, Distributors, Dealers, CKDs.  Named or Anonymous.

UPDATE June 13Distributor:   Faxon Sales (New England)

Here are two things we are doing at Distributor XYZ  in response to fuel increase and slowed economy:
1) Starting June 16th, we are now charging a $15 per stop drop charge
2) We are beefing up our inventory, that's right, increasing our inventory. As dealers, groups, distributors and supply houses look to cut costs by lowering inventory levels - if we have it and the competition is 4 weeks out, then hopefully we get the business.

UPDATE June 13Dealer

This year, we are up a bit in high-end appliances (80% of what we sell).  High-end buyers are a bit more selective, but buy nonetheless.
-Some mid-line customers have asked about green alternative appliances, but only if they don't cost any more.
-Electrolux is just beginning to steal some high line thunder
-Fascination with mega BTUs is waning, induction cooking is waxing.
-Distributors, not manufacturers, are offering rebates on high line appliance for the first time in my experience.
-UMRP has crept down to accessories, one of the few places we formerly "wiggled" for good customers.
-We still offer limited free delivery, but those outside a 25 mile radius pay by the "outgoing mile" for delivery.
-We no longer offer warranty service on appliances we did not sell if more than 25 miles from us.  At the rates manufacturers pay, it is simply un-economic. No manufacturer has objected to this yet
-Apropos of nothing in particular, the BEST warranty reimbursements we enjoy are Firemagic Grills and Fireplaces from Empire Comfort.  Their failure rate are admirably low, so they can afford to be human. And by-god, we actually make a profit selling this stuff.

While common grill sales have tanked, high line outdoor kitchens have become more sought after.

UPDATE June 12Florida Dealer

We are expanding.  Added one line, and booting a few others.  We are looking to the high-end even more.
Excess real estate inventory means buyers have 80,000 condos to chose from, so sellers needs to stand out. As an appliance guy, my answer to the builder / owner is “look at that kitchen!”  We ARE the label in your home!!! As far as appliances go, now is the time to spend more, not less!
Our numbers are up.  Can't say how. We keep positive, adapt our conversation to the new market, and work the streets!  You work harder when times are hard. (-;

What I see.
-Sub Zero is pushy, they should be careful.  People are talking about how little they want to be pushed these days.
-Hadco is working extra hard .. and its hard not to return the favor. Same goes for Miele, those guys just seem to show up even more often and work with us even more closely. Whirlpool, pushy, but we need them, and the rep works well with us, but we've added some competition to the floor with Frigidaire and Icon.
-These days, reps that show up earn a lot of respect and loyalty. The better they serve us, the better we serve the customer and the more reason a customer has to work with us.  Rep’s assist in that role a great deal.
-Pricing:  I have not changed a thing.  I do back flips when I get 15 points on domestic lines. As apposed to what you (ApplianceAdvisor.com) have written, UMRP pricing at 18 points is far from abusive and goes a long way to keeping the lights on. I hope to see more of it.
-Distributor numbers . .down 20 to 40% from what I am hearing
-Gas . . well you said it already. Probably will be good for condo’s in the city, bad for single family homes an 1-1/2 hours of gas-burning rush-hour traffic away. We are giving away fewer free deliveries.
-A few of us think a few good oil wells off the coast would add new well paying jobs and new opportunities for us, we can only hope. Here, middle class opportunities are disappearing.  There are no homes under 300K, and no jobs that pay over 100K to buy the homes we have + cover the crazy tax + insurance costs we are buried in.   What's left:  Tends to be very high end, or bargain basement working poor these days.
-Things are what they are, and other than the fact we have increased sales a little and expect more in the short term . . we see what everyone else sees . . . bubble burst, and the market is adjusting. Gas is the problem, but that’s 50 years of stupidity coming due, so in a way, just a kind of bubble bursting again. We will adjust to it as well.

UPDATE June 11:  Really!?  Nothing!?  As the world of cheap and convenient transport disappears you guys have done nothing to compensate?  Go figure.

SMEG Grand Opening of their 1st USA Showroom
BSH Change at the Top
BSH President Franz Joseph Bosshard steps down to take a global business development position reporting directly to the chairman.  Mr. Bosshard joined BSH USA from BSH China in March 2002. 
He will be replaced by globe trotting BSH executive Michael Traub coming from 4 years as CEO of BSH Latin America (with prior stints in Suttgart, Singapore, Munich, San Paolo)
Boston Group Change at the Top
Sherman Revola, head-honcho at the Boston Group unexpectedly resigned his position.  The Boston Group is a warehousing sub-group of the Nationwide Buying Group and made up of 100 or so independent dealers throughout New England.  The Boston Group provides member dealers warehousing, cross docking, pricing, and shipping services giving them a huge leg up on the chains and big boxes.
Sherm is hugely popular in the group, but his fan club of 100 dealers are left wondering why he left.
Jim Cunningham has stepped up to take over his responsibilities on an interim basis.
Smeg Finds Love
Smeg announces that it has appointed Pinnacle Express to distribute in the southeast.
Smeg and Pinnacle are both ApplianceAdvisor.com advertisers, and we always feel a little pride when we help make the perfect match. 
Mazel tov!!

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Sub-Zero Delays Dishwashers
As part of the belt tightening at Sub-Zero, the dishwasher factory slated for Richmond, KY will be delayed 18 months, moving production from 2010 to either 2011 or 2012.  
Viking's dishwasher is already 4 years late.  Dacor's dishwasher nearly drove the company into the ground, with production stopped to work out the kinks and not restarted for 2 years.  
If there was anyone who expected Sub-Zero to start producing dishwashers in 2010 no matter the economy, they haven't spoken to us.  It is good news for ASKO.
  Sub-Zero Rumor-mill not Entirely Rumor
Madison Wisconsin's Capital Times reports today June 2, that Sub-Zero is releasing 27 salaried employees and eliminating 16 open positions.
See the story
We've been following up several tips on this the last few days.  The key point for us, and it turns out for Sub-Zero relates to whether these salaried employees were part of the original April reduction (removing the band aid with a quick fast pull), or if they were a new and unrelated reduction (death by a thousand cuts, shooting prisoners and deserters, blowing up the bridges, retreating in chaos).  We could find nothing to verify the contention that these were new actions, and so did not post here.  Sub-Zero's official position is that these were part of the original reduction, that there was a conscious corporate goal to measure twice and cut once, and having gone though a 6-wave layoff in a past life, I applaud the effort.  If you have evidence to the contrary let us know.

During our investigation of our tips we inadvertently and unfortunately participated in the story for which we were taken to the woodshed by a SZ executive: our probes of SZ had resulted, we were told, in the creation of a new free standing rumor inside the company.

So while we were feeling terrible about this, we found today's (Monday 6/2) Capital Times story in which VP of HR Chuck Verri is quoted in an email to SZ employees:

"As we continue to monitor fluctuations in product demand, and as has occurred in the past, there could be additional adjustments to production............While layoffs are very unpleasant, it is important that we act to manage the business."

Yikes.  If this is the official communication to SZ employees, there's little that ApplianceAdvisor.com can do to make the staff more nervous.

Update June 2:  Wisconsin State Journal reporter Judy Newman characterizes the layoff as a 2nd round:  "Another round of job cuts at" SZ/Wolf.
Update June 2:  Capital Times reporter Lynne Welch quoted Chuck Verri: "It was a general reduction across all departments really as a follow-up to what we had done earlier in April"
Update June 2:  We were assured by SZ on Friday May 30, and Monday June 2 that this is all a single layoff.
So let's summarize:  
     We laid off in the past.
     We are laying off now, and it may or may not be related to the earlier layoff.
     We reserve the right to layoff in the future.
So much for measure twice and cut once.

GE Continued
June 1:  Reuters reports that LG has denied that it had been approached by Electrolux to formulate a joint proposal for GE appliance, as had been reported in the Korea Economic Daily.  The point of the proposal, if true, would be so that Jackal-like, they might tear GE Appliances limb from limb from limb.
June 13:  Business Week story published May 29, summarizing LG's position,  Click
More Whirlpool Hose Yanking News
This is not news.......just another documentary nugget.
Whirlpool's May 1 Letter to the Dealer

Our earlier thrilling installment of the Whirlpool hose imbroglio.
May
2008
  Big Layoff at BSH
BSH released an estimated 10% of its workforce, located throughout the continent, from the continued hardship of full employment.  What free spirited ex-employee would not thrill at the pre-summer timing of the layoff?  There must be dancing in the streets.
New Theory:  Oldest Profession is Appliance Sales and NOT Prostitution (and Yes!! there's a difference)
Harvard anthropologist theorizes in January Scientific American article that our big human brains are the result of switching from raw to cooked foods millions of year ago.
    And "Cooking", as we all know, means there's gotta be a cooking appliance.
    Cooking and the first cooking appliance is evidence, Ipso Facto, of the first appliance salesman.
How was the first appliance paid for?  Let's just say that the Prostitution profession has nothing to be ashamed of.
(May also be evidence of first use of the sales promotion,  the "Layaway"...Badda Boom!)
KBIS Swag Update:  Dacor Comes Through
Dacor's generosity to the press never fails to amaze.  We just received Dacor's "Outdoor Grill Fork and Barbecue Tool Set" model DE075, a $48 value.  The 6-piece kit is made of 430 stainless steel and comes in a lovely aluminum security case.  It could only be improved with the addition of a wrist locking security handcuff.  Though 1/2 the value of Electrolux's $100 Bose buds, the Dacor gift is more useful, a better gift from an appliance company, and Dacor gets points for not using hired thugs in their booth.
Gift photo 1   Gift photo 2
See April's "Quickee KBIS Review" for full Swag report and Electrolux Thug report
With receipt of the Dacor gift, the ApplianceAdvisor.com is officially in the bag.
Miele to Launch Revolutionary Sales and Distribution Program Throughout Canada  EXCLUSIVE AND CONFIRMED
Effective July 2, all Miele consumer orders in Canada will be placed at brick and mortar dealer locations, face to face with a salesperson who together will enter the order using an online, password protected website  (https://www.mieledealernet.com).  All delivery, installation and service issues will be managed by Miele directly.  Miele has signed agreements with national installation, delivery and transport companies.  Except for the display units, the dealer will never touch the product.
We have also been tipped that dealer display units will be leased at $1/year to the dealer.  The entire program promises to cut costs throughout the system and improve service levels, though the $1 display lease, if true is a huge expense.  Dealers are said to love the program in theory but not without concern that the change sets them up to be removed polyp-like (not puppy-like) in the future from the sales stream.  Miele first employed the system successfully in Australia, but our tipster indicates that there is no plan to roll out the program in the US.....though why not?  Could 2-step distribution work with this type of system if their value add is that of a 5% Sales Rep?
Reuters Reports that Sears, Lowes, and HHGregg in Class Action Lawsuit.....Again
A federal lawsuit seeking class action status alleges that the above retailers sold and then installed dryers using dryer vent duct not approved by the manufacturer, namely flexible metal foil or plastic dryer hose instead of the approved rigid ducting.  Flexible hose hooks lint, which as any 28 year old bachelor can tell you reproduces wildly and uncontrollably in dark warm environments such as under the couch or in ducts.  It then become block-ed by the children, grandchildren and great-grand children of that first hooked lint.  An argument ensues, (which is just like lint), it gets heated, there's a fire which tragically wipes out several generations of duct lint only a few brief seconds before burning down the entire house.
MAY DISTRIBUTOR UPDATES

4)  NXR chooses Signature Marketing
to distribute in Delaware, lower New York State, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia

3)  Schaedel Expanding Viking Business North

Carl Schaedel informed its dealers May 19th that it has reached agreement in principal with Delia Associates for the acquisition of Delia's Viking business in New York State.  (As far as we know Delia would still have Zephyr and Sirius, though Zephyr's M.O. has been to follow Viking like a puppy.  Why is Delia selling a chunk of both its bread AND its butter?  Was the decision made under duress or as part of a well considered strategy?  We have a call into Delia, and hope to have an answer shortly.
CORRECTION May 22:  On Feb 15, 2008, Zephyr appointed Schaedel for New York State and Delia for New England, so Zephyr-wise:
      -Viking is following Zephyr..........puppy-like
      -Zephyr is distributed by (5) distributors which do not distribute Viking

2)  ALMO and Samsung and Climatic
Samsung will now be available to independent dealers having reached agreement with ALMO and Climatic to go through 2-step distribution.  Until now, Samsung was only available through national chains.  Climatic will cover:  AL, AK, FL, SC, GA, LA and MS.  ALMO will cover the rest of the country.

ALMO and FCI
ALMO will no longer distribute Italian brand FCI (aka Fulgor....not to be mistaken with Spanish brand Fagor) 

ALMO and Capital 
.....and there is rumor that ALMOs Capital Equipment territory is changing....i.e. Florida.

ALMO and ASKO
In preparation for Sub-Zero's launch of its own dishwasher line, ASKO is migrating away from its Sub-Zero distribution dependency.  ASKO is pulling out of Westye East and shifting to ALMO Distribution.  The territory includes New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.

Viking Class Action Updates
See April
KitchenAid Goes to 403 Stainless Steel?
A Consumer Sent us a copy of an email they received from KitchenAid Customer Service:
"Thank you for contacting KitchenAid with your new product shopping questions! We appreciate your interest in our home appliances.
 
At this time, KitchenAid is in process of changing the grade of stainless steel being used on our appliances. Unfortunately, this is a running change with the model numbers and therefore, we will not know when the change takes place.
We were or are using the 304 grade stainless and plan to change the line to 403 grade. The two grades of stainless however, are designed to match as closely as possible. Also, the lighting in the room and surrounding cabinetry can affect the color and appearance of any color of appliance.  The appliances may look completely different in your kitchen under different lighting."

A major running change without noting the change in the model?  That sounds weird.  Anyone hear anything about this?
GE Continued
May 28
:  ReutersGE names LG, Haier, Mabe, Electrolux, Arcelik of Turkey (which is larger than you think), as potential suitors.
May 23:  Indian conglomerate Videocon confirms that it has been invited to make a bid for GE.  Videocon recently completed its acquisition of Daewoo and has formed deep strategic ties with Electrolux in India
May 22:  Immelt comments that sale or spinoff should be completed by Q1 2009.  
May 16:  Analysis:  Appliance Park (AP) is a place lost to time, shuffled to the back of the GE bus.  The ugly step-child.  Poorly lit, and never updated.  Carpet worn or rippled by ancient roof leaks and never repaired.  Stained cinderblock walls, ancient furniture and fixtures.  One could say it reminds one of a Soviet hospital, but I have been to a Soviet hospital and AP is not nearly so cheerful.
AP is a depressing work environment successful in only one measure:  making one feel sad for those who spend their careers so disrespected by their employer. 
What if the new investor actually invested in AP?  How much value could be unlocked?  
     -If the far flung departments of AP were consolidated into a convenient vertical rather than time sucking horizontal building structure
     -If the time sucked away commuting to meetings all over the bloody place was instead productive time.
     -If the employees were shown the respect associated with a clean, modern and well lit work environment.  
     -if the isolation of life at AP were replaced with a tighter, more interactive office layout, it would unlock the creativity and innovation of random interactions; the unplanned hallway conversations between unrelated appliance professionals.
What if the new owners saw the rejuvenating possibilities of a new facility and a new beginning in the mold of Chrysler's Auburn Hills HQ?  We can only hope.
May 16
:  Analysis:  Is the purchase of GE life and death for Mabe.  No.  Is this the deal that they must win?  Maybe not "must", but they should make every attempt to make it happen.  Mabe manufactures a huge chunk of products branded as GE or sold by GE and branded as Kenmore.  Is that at risk in a sale?  Even if the new owner will own 49% of Mabe?  Yes and Yes.  Mabe has the most to lose and the most to gain of the suitors so far mentioned.  If it makes financial sense for GE to buy Mabe product in Mexico and resell it throughout the US just imagine Mabe's margins if they can remove the middleman......even in the "just better than coal" cooking categories.  
May 16:  NEW:  GE Confirms that it is planning to spin off or sell division
May 15:  Reader Suggestion:  LG was always the end game at GE, always the suitor that was going to get into GE's panties.  What should have been a civilized exchange of cash and equity has now become a free for all, which suggests that LG could not or would not meet GE's price.
Earth Shattering Paradigm Shift:  UPDATE
Don't tell us that this is not Earth shattering, that this is not a Paradigm shift.
The GE decision to sell is a game changer and fits the bill for our promise in February and March of this year.

That said.......it is NOT the Paradigm Shift we've been waiting to tell you about.  GE set the bar mighty high for any change in the industry which can be termed a "paradigm shift".  So high in fact, we wonder if our little scoop might not measure up.
We would like to believe, though we have no reason to, that GE's Immelt jumped the gun for fear our scoop was his scoop.
ALERT:  GE APPLIANCE DIVISION UP FOR AUCTION:  May 14, 2008
It has been reported that GE will put the GE Appliance business up for bid.
The Wall Street Journal says:  "With appliance sales getting hit by the slowing U.S. economy and the housing bust, jettisoning the business could help GE reach its long-term goal of boosting profits by at least 10% annually."
Business Week: Goodbye to GE Appliances

Why Now?
GE Appliance has always been the subject of possible spin off or sell off. (see ApplianceAdvisor Sept, 2005 "GE Appliance Business for Sale?")

GE has been hit by the recession of course reporting a 14% drop in builder sales where GE is huge, and a 5% drop in consumer sales.  

What if it's not the recession, not the drop-off in sales, not the rise in oil prices, not the war in Iraq, not the coming election of anyone else.  What if GE is actually paying attention to the US$ exchange rate?  Take your time, roll it around in your head a bit.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?  But why?  The exchange rate has no meaning, except in the case..........except in the case....BUT IT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE TRUE !  IT CAN'T BE TRUE !  
Yes naive, I fear t'is true, that GE, 2nd largest manufacturer of appliances in North America with a 27% market share is setting itself up for foreign takeover at a Euro/US$ exchange discount of 30% since 2005.  The flag flying over GE Appliance will not be the Stars and Stripes, but instead could very well be the Iranian flag, or the red, white and blue banner of North Korea or Ethiopia, or the AK47 assault rifle be-decorated flag of Mozambique.
"Why at these prices it's almost an impulse buy!"  The US$ discount more than counterbalancing a sales related loss in value.

"So Rod Roddy, tell us what our contestants will be bidding on in the Showcase Showdown?"
     -2nd largest white goods maker GE Appliances with 27% of the US market. (WSJ says 20%)
     -A 49% stake in the largest Mexican appliance maker, Mabe (which owns the largest Canadian maker and distributor CAMCO)
     -The Monogram brand of high-end and pro-style appliances....the jewel if you will
     -Diversified Refrigeration, maker of GE Monogram built-in refrigeration, which GE Appliance purchased January 2006
     -A national direct sales force.  Pish Posh to 2-step distribution.
     -A purchasing department which is regarded as a profit center.
     -The entire major appliance distribution infrastructure of Home Depot.  That's right!  If you bought it at Home Depot, no matter the brand, it was stocked, loaded, tagged, and delivered to you by the fine folks at GE under contract to Home Depot.
But Wait, There's More............
     -The use of the GE "meatball" logo for enough time for you to settle in, feel at home.
     -Appliance Park in Louisville, KY.  A collection of cavernous buildings visible from the moon and housing GE Appliance HQ, purchasing, sales, engineering, and the desiccated remains of a once mighty manufacturing juggernaut.

Who might be interested in GE Appliances?
The entire industry has been patiently waiting for South Korean giant LG to make an offer, and that seems about right to us.  Could it be coincidental that LG and GE just signed a patent sharing pact in February?

Louisville Courier Journal Q1 Results April 11, 2008:  GE's Louisville unit profit falls, broader drop sinks stocks

NOTE:  This editor was once employed as an intern by GE's Gas Turbine Division of Schenectady, NY (zip code 12345).  
There is no telling how much this close working relationship effected the tone and content of this story.  "What have you done for the General today?"

UPDATE May 15:  NY Times.  "GE Looking to Sell Appliance Division"
Whirlpool All But Wipes Out MagicChef
Whirpool's new June 29 price sheet only lists (8) Magic Chef products, all 24" manual clean wall ovens.  
9512WUV, 9512XUB, 9522XUB, 9112VUV, 9112WUV, 9112XUB, 9122VUV, 9122XUB
This is a Reader tip.  Does anyone want to second this?
Brand may see light of day in future as big box house brand

UPDATE May 15:  Reader Tip and Comments  
"West coast rep rumor has it that Magic Chef will be Lowes-only soon"
"But the new price sheet does include more Estate Appliance SKU's!  Oh Happy Day."
"Keep a Brand no one knows, Estate, and kill one that people have known for years."
End of World as You Know It
Goldman Sachs predicts $150 - $200 per barrel of oil next 12 - 24 months, which is $5 to $7 a gallon.
What do we recommend to manufacturers of all the inefficient and un-necessary product lines built to cater to builders and residents of soon to be obsolete and decaying luxo-boxes in the suburbs and the exurbs?  Makers of wine, compact, undercounter, and outdoor refrigeration, massive stainless ranges, super fridges, 42 towel washers, drying centers?
The appliance industry stands on the precipice last occupied by the US automotive industry in 1973, builders of products which require a specific set of regulatory, cultural, demographic and energy circumstances which have reached their "sell by" date.  One day, very soon, we may look at a 2007 48" double oven stainless steel range with sealed burners (arguably the very worst deal in the appliance industry) with the same quiet bemusement we now look at the 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon, a car wider than the street on which it drove.
At $7 per gallon we can only begin to guess what the future holds, except this:  the appliance industry as we see it each KBIS would no longer exist, replaced by a much smaller industry populated by those who stayed on their toes.  And for those who could not duck and weave?  Stock up on rice.

NY Times:  Oil Price Rise Fails to Open Tap   ( REPAIRED LINK )

Atlantic Monthly:  The Next Slum 

Fretting?  Here's why you can smile:  "....And Then.......Depression Set In":   October 2007 
  Marvel Indiana Plant to Close.  Nation's Alcoholics, Boozers and Bums Express Outrage at Loss by Moaning Incoherently and Wetting Themselves.
Maker of undercounter refrigerators and icemakers to consolidate operations with parent Northland's production in Michigan.  140 Marvel-ous jobs were lost, and one imagines that someone is trying to contact the absent 15% of the workforce who may not learn of the closing for several weeks.

Marvel's Saga of Information Ineptitude Continues:
       -AGA / Northland threaten to close the Marvel plant, the threat gets into the public domain.
       -Information about Marvel quality problems and high absenteeism gets into the public domain damaging the brand
       -The Northland plant is chucked under the bus and reported to also be expendable.  This gets into the public domain.
       -After running state and local officials through a ringer putting together $millions in incentives to save the Richmond, IN plant, local officials are shocked to learn 2nd hand of the decision to close the plant.  Officials were embarrassed and to cover their flank were only too happy to dish dirt on the record to the local newspaper the Palladium Item with:  
               -"Here we are ready to put up $2.074 million and we can't even get a simple phone call back from them to tell us they are leaving."
               -"With the amount of work, time and effort that many people put in, it would have been nice to let us know"
               -"This was a first -- even Target let me know when they were leaving."
Are you people certifiably insane?  Is this how you protect a brand you paid millions to acquire?  Is it amateur night over there?  Have you forgotten that it's a recession, and you don't make things people "need"?  This is not rocket science.  

This should have been a short story about a "lamentable factory closing", of "moral support for the workers, worker retraining and the officials and people of the community of Richmond", immediately flowing into "Marvel's choice to keep jobs in America", and then of "plant modernization and production efficiencies in Michigan", ending finally with "higher competitiveness and better products for the consumer".  This could have been a feel good story.  Instead you have made the not so obvious choice of turning it all into a bloody train wreck, and the blood is your own.  I feel like I need a shower.
Stockholders should be asking questions.

Northland one must remember, is the refrigerator manufacturer which has yet to figure out how to meet DOE energy requirements if not for a seemingly tailor-made loophole, (since fridge box and refrigeration mechanism ship in two boxes DOE regs don't apply, we sh** you not...See Dull Edge of Cold April 2004)

Read the Paladium Item Story

See
April 2008 "Big, BIG Problems Reported at AGA / Marvel / Northland" below for first story.

Reader Comment May 2:
AGA paid 21 million for Marvel.  Hired Gordon Stauffer as President (he was already Northland's President) who ran the company along with AGA for three years.  Marvel declined from a very profitable company producing high quality products to one which is losing money and producing lower quality products.  After a series of bad management decisions and a steady turnover of middle management employees, top management proclaimed the financial loses and poor quality are due to the lack of efforts by the rank and file factory workers and their local union.  As you know, Northland is the company that produces the NKA brand of larger built in refrigerators that cannot meet the energy standards-now or ever.

Marvel Dealer Letter May 5:  Click Here
Whirlpool Yanks Your Hose II
Rumor has it that Whirlpool is once again making a run at eliminating the connection hoses included with their washers.  The rumor suggests that the change effects Whirlpool's new top loading washer going into production in August.
Whirlpool's Yanks Your Hose I  (October 2006)
Whirlpool's Yanks Your Broiler Pan (January 2007)

Have they no shame!  Will they take our lint collectors next?
Dear Whirlpool, take what you will..........but leave us our dignity.
Dear Reader, if we are reporting "rumors"....never mind fact......on washer hoses and broiler pans.......it is obviously already too late for us.  Save yourselves.

Reader Comment May 12:  
I am sure you have heard this one has been confirmed, however I got the letter a couple days ago.  It basically said that the hoses will be discontinued being shipped with the units in August with the launch of the new Whirlpool, Maytag, and Amana top load laundry only.  Also the HE units both top load and front load will include hoses.  Lastly it mentioned that the value brands will discontinue their hoses being included August 1, 2008 with Estate, Roper, Inglis and Admiral.

Thankfully they reminded me in the letter that this gives me a bigger opportunity to up-sell hoses to my customers. Because that’s what I want to do, is tell customers that the GE or other brand pair includes hoses in their prices and that the Whirlpool does not and they have to buy those separately.   They also let me know that most customers don’t even use the hoses that are provided because they want to buy upgraded hoses at an additional fee.

By the way I decided to give the standard hoses away for free and stock some s/s hoses for all machines and offer those as an up charge with the hope that the up charge will offset the free hoses I am giving away on the Whirlpool machines.
 

Reader Comment May 13:
Concerning the comment about hoses: Don't you think the other brands will follow suite? It is an additional price increase (reduce cost to the manufacturers) that we will have to pass on to the consumer. I do not understand why independent appliance retailers think we have to "give" our customers hoses. Can you imagine Exxon absorbing a cost increase in oil? The chains will see it as an opportunity to make additional margin and so should we!
April
2008
Round II:  What Goes Around Comes Around.......LG Sues Whirlpool
Bloomberg reports that LG is suing Whirlpool for infringement of 3 patents.  Bloomberg
Some of you may remember that Whirlpool sued LG for patent infringement in 2003.  
See Round I.
Viking Class Action Lawsuit
How can there be a class action lawsuit filed against Viking in May of 2007 based on energy efficiency that we are just learning about today?
Which one of you guys failed to live up to the Advisor oath?

This is an especially interesting case, as we've been investigating these very charges off and on for months. The jist of the class action is:
      1)  Viking is or was building into their refrigerators electrical fixes to alleviate moisture problems which are or were not electrically connected in the factory.
      2)  The fixes were connected in the home when moisture related service problems appeared or en masse pre-sale by distributors in effected regions
      3)  DOE testing of these refrigerators were such that the moisture features were not connected, and therefore the electrical draw of the features not included, and as a result the DOE Energy labels were incorrect.

In our own investigation, the fixes mentioned by service people as well as distributors and dealers were:
                   -Mullion Heater:  some sort of heating element that keeps the door seal from sweating
                   -Drip Pan Heater (may be known as a Foil Heater Kit):  to accelerate drip pan evaporation
                   -Drip Pan Fan:  to accelerate drip pan evaporation.
                   -Pocket Heater:  used on bottom of door, but unsure exactly what it is, or if it is another name for one of the above

Ponderables:
-These are significant charges since it's not nice to fool the DOE.  An energy compliance person at a Viking competitor claimed that the DOE can levy fines up to $100 per unit for each day out of compliance.  Even if the class action claim is true though, the units may not be out of compliance.  That's a DOE call, and pre-installed fixes which are not 100% required by all customers may not, conceivably (meaning we have no idea one way or the other), be a DOE problem.
-The class action suit is based on the unexpected added cost for the electricity used in the fixes, but we wonder as non-lawyers where's the path to riches here?  How much could the damages be at $0.12 per KW?  We must be missing something since the filing indicates a value greater than $5 million (the class action minimum)
-Where is this case now?  Have they certified the class or notified members of the class?  No idea.

Viking's official response is simply:  "All refrigerators meet DOE regulations."
http://www.snlaw.net/areas-topics.php?topicID=12&path=11,3
http://snlaw.net/pdf/Viking_Complaint.pdf

We will continue to keep our eye on this.
SERVICER COMMENT Apr 4:
I don't know much about the lawsuit but it seems to me that Viking are no different than any of the other manufacturers except they make the repair kit available on all their units instead of having to install it like on other brands. We've been pasting heaters into Maytag fridges for years. Plus the newer low energy consumption condenser fan motors in Subs and Whirlpools are failing all the time. The replacement? The old style (high energy consumption) fan motor. With Whirlpool, you can't even get the low energy one as a part number - it is automatically subbed to the old style.

UPDATE May 16:  The law firm of Schatz Nobel Izard indicated to us that the class has NOT been certified, and therefore the class has not been notified.  This case was started by the complaint of a single individual, and has yet to pass through the flaming hoop of certification, though they hoped by summer's end.  The lawyers were mum on how they reached this >$5 million estimate or the basis of their claim.  A summary on the web indicates that the complaint is based on "Property Damage Product Liability", and reference is made in the filings of water leakage and damages.  The money is in the damages then, but the complaint spends so much time on electricity, that perhaps the legal strategy is the "damages" caused by a machine which was known to the manufacturer to be ill suited for the purpose for which it was purchased.  The electricity may simply be a way of saying that Viking knew this.
Had we just read the complaint a little more closely, we would find this:
"Because the Refrigerators are designed in such a way that they leak water, the Refrigerators are not "fit for the purposes for which such goods are used"  Accordingly, Viking has violated the implied warranty of merchantability pursuant to Miss. Code. Ann section 75-2-314"

OK.  The class action is based on damages.  But then, why file in Mississippi, the home state of Viking?  Is there some advantage to filing in MS?  Just imagine how hard it was to find this particular person.  Look at the math:
     Number of people in Mississippi who could afford a Viking kitchen (= 15:  All Viking employees)
     X the odds that they had a Viking kitchen (=100%:  All Viking employee discount)
    X the odds that they were unhappy with their Viking fridge  (This is an unknown quantity)
     X the odds that they were unhappy enough to file suit?       (=0%:  Not a great career move)
     = Let's just say it's a shorter putt to find alien life on Pluto.
  ANY OTHER CLOSURES OR JOB LAYOFFS TO REPORT?  TELL US.
  Nasty Business at Fisher & Paykel
Where there once were hundreds of dirty and obsolete machines stamping out DCS products, there now runs a clean, brightly lit, high tech production facility.  Fisher & Paykel invested $9 million in the DCS plant after the acquisition only to report this week that the plant is closing with production and production tooling shifting to a Mexican facility recently purchased from Whirlpool for $33 million.  F&P also reported that it is shutting down plants in New Zealand and Australia.  
What does it mean?  
Thoughts:
      -1000 people will be out of work, 330 of them in Huntington Beach.  Another 1000 will be hired in Thailand, Italy and Mexico
      -Americans can finally say to Mexico, "What Goes Around Comes Around"  after all their immigrants both documented and not have come up here, finally we have something to send them.  Let's see how they like them apples?
      -Wiping out all US job opportunities is certainly an effective way to end illegal immigration.
      -What's the meaning of 3 luxury and pro-style brands announcing a shift of production south? (GE Monogram, DCS, and Jennair made by DCS).
      -What happens to the HB building owned by the original DCS founders and under long term lease?  Those guys will be fine........as always.
      -Stock price rose 15% after being pegged as a takeover target by Reuters on April 7 based on a stock price drop of 31% year to date.

UPDATE May 14
:  With Whirlpool, Electrolux, GE, LG, etc, etc all shifting to Mexico and other low cost production, one cannot expect F&P to swim up river. If there is a national goal to protect US manufacturing then US regulation must be passed to do it.

No matter the stock price, these are not the actions of a company enjoying unbridled prosperity.  There are huge risks associated with opening a new plant in Mexico, shifting lines to the far corners of the earth, depending upon a current and unhappy workforce with firm dates of execution, depending upon a future untrained workforce to quickly ramp up....and doing all of this in so many places and with so many lines simultaneously.  
Risk is bad and this is a heaping helping of risk.

-Reader Report Apr 17:  20 sales, service and office personnel laid off last week because of lack of work.
-Odd Press Release title:  
"FISHER & PAYKEL APPLIANCES ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF ITS U.S. MANUFACTURING WITH CONSOLIDATION OF NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIAN AND ORANGE COUNTY PLANTS TO ONE NORTH AMERICAN FACILITY".  
How does one Expand US Manufacturing by shutting down US production and moving to Mexico?  Maybe the release text, and the release title come from two different PR departments.
-Reader Report Apr 19:  already gone through 2 rounds of layoffs, recently, heard upwards of 70, including 7 or so from engineering, etc. F&P will pickup the factory (machinery, robot welder…plus be able to do porcelain without California environmental oversight) and move it down to Mexico in a couple of weeks.

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3
  Rich Tighten Belts

SUB ZERO:  
Appliance News reports that Wolf/ Sub Zero is laying off a whopping 14% of its workforce, 235 of its 1700 employees, the majority of whom are Wisconsin HQ based and Sub-Zero specific with a few located at the Phoenix factory or related to Wolf.  The layoffs are the result of a drop-off in sales and an increase in inventory.
UPDATE Apr 23:  The Capital Times has the story, but read the heated forum comments from both SZ employees and Madison residents.
     Capital Times Story
     Capital Times Forums

VIKING: Viking is laying off 4% or 48 of its 1200 employees.
  Big, BIG Problems Reported at AGA / Marvel / Northland
Richmond, IN "country" radio station Kicks96 WQLK FM reports that Marvel Industries, luxury compact refrigerator manufacturer and subsidiary of AGA, is threatening the employees of Marvel's Richmond, IN factory that it may shut down the plant because of a combination of "slumping sales", "poor quality", and an average absentee rate of 15% of its 135 employees each day!  Yikes.
Kicks 96 further reported, "On Tuesday, Bob Hansen with the Economic Development Corporation said that attendance generally correlates with pay scale. In essence, he said, higher pay means better attendance."  
We contacted Mr. Hansen, based in Wayne county IN and he further iterated that companies in the area which pay less than $9/hour to start are more likely to have absentee issues, though Mr. Hanson has no knowledge of Marvel's employee pay.  Mr. Hanson agreed that 15% was both very high, and unusual.
It was reported that AGA will be deciding in the next two weeks if it will close Marvel's Richmond plant or sister division Northland's Michigan plant.  
We believe that these (2) subsidiaries are single factory operations, but have not confirmed.
Advisor hopes that AGA is able to save both plants, but also that they find it in their hearts to fire forthwith all employees not fully appreciative of their employment and without reasonable health or family excuses for their absence.  If we could put on our reactionary hat for a moment, if the job pays well enough to have, then it pays well enough to do.  A 15% daily absence rate is untenable and puts at risk the employment of innocents who depend on the paycheck.  
Didn't see that one coming, did yah?  This recommendation assumes that the Marvel work environment is a safe one.
Kicks96 News

READER COMMENT Apr 24:
The other side to this story is that the IN facility was cast in an unfavorable light by a source at the MI facility in a political positioning effort to salvage their own facility.  I would check to verify the possibly over-stated quality and absentee issues with the plant in IN having over 30 years of high end quality production output.  This facility and it's people (who are Marvel) has been a survivor in spite of all intended efforts to see it's demise.  The MI facility only survives because of the IN facility's capability over the course of many years to carry it financially.  Apparently even sacrificing a brand name's reputation is fair game if it places your facility in a more favorable light.
Whirlpool Price Increase
Effective July 20, 2008, exactly 39 years after man first walked upon the moon, Whirlpool will increase appliance pricing by an average of 6% to cover increases in the cost of raw materials, components, fuel, and logistics.
Historic Product Placement Event:  Real World:  Hollywood.
"In honor of the groundbreaking reality show’s historic 20th Anniversary, MTV determined that the home chosen in 2008 would be renovated to make it eco-friendly, providing an important opportunity to entertain while educating viewers on the importance of sustainable living and “green” products.".  The set will therefore be outfitted with Bosch appliances.  
1)  Historic?  They have really dropped the bar haven't they?
2)  Note of Correction to BSH PR:  It's the 20th season, not 20th anniversary.  The 20th anniversary will be 2012.  Perhaps a minor point of fact......but a fact nonetheless.
We cannot wait to see how Bosch appliances figure into the Real World's "Confessionals" of sex, lust, drugs, disease, racism, intrigue and politics in an atmosphere of environmental sustainability.
Overstock Sale
Description:  Thermador 27" Stainless Trim Kits for use with MBES Thermador microwave oven.
Model #: MET27ES
Quantity: 130
Condition: New in box
Regular Dealer Cost: Most likely varies around the country but about $165.00
Overstock Deal Price: $100.00
Buyer pays freight from Ft Lauderdale, FL
Interested?  Contact: david@sdcappliances.com

Cause of Overstock:  Cabinet design error on project business.  Kits could not be used.
Quickee KBIS Review
Travel Disasters
American Airlines and weather issues put a deep crimp in many attendee's travels including your's truly.  How many missed the show entirely, we have no idea.  Show management, Trent & Company, claim registrations were up 5 - 10% on opening day.

Electrolux Hires Muscle to Protect "What" Exactly?
Electrolux's 6 or 7 member team of all black, universally massive, brown suited guards with secret service type coiled wire ear buds could not have been more polite.  I was much more intimidated by the cheerless angle of death managing the event.  Yes, I was caught in a trap, having run askew of the law of the booth, having been lulled into a false sense of security by a photographer freely and openly snapping away unmolested.  So I started to shoot too....but not for long, for I was to learn that I had NOT been watching a press photographer, but instead had taken the bait of a corporate photographer.  Give me a minute here............I just get so emotional when I...........when I re-live those humiliating few seconds.
Though not exactly strip searched, I was asked to delete the 5 photos I had taken in the booth, including the wide shot taken 30 feet outside the booth.
As for the booth itself......this was the first Electrolux booth that was not overly packed with a hodgepodge of mismatched products in a space too small and crowded to scratch your ear.  It was the first Electrolux booth with a reasonably attractive design theme.  The big guys always bring every product new or old in every size in every possible hue, but this Electrolux booth was a bit more restrained, and we don't mean the handcuffs they kept in the central interrogation room.
A Little Hint:  It is not necessary to bore us to death with 20 when 2 representative samples would do fine.  Focusing on the few is one thing LG gets.
UPDATE Apr 23:  Ours was not the only story of this kind.  Follow the link to see the first and possibly only photo ever taken and successfully retrieved from the Electrolux KBIS booth.  This person obviously took grave personal risks, and we are told crossed several alligator infested swamps at night to get this image to us and then to you.  Even now, experts in the field of photo-analysis are divining much from this image, and from them we will know much more of the plans and strategies behind Electrolux's porcelainized iron curtain.  Their first conclusion is that those cupcake-shaped devices are actually gamma-ray generators to disable our spy satellites.  Dastardly!  PHOTO  

Other News
-
GE launched a new line of pro style ranges and cooktops reportedly manufactured at GE's Mexico (JV/partner/subsidiary) Mabe, becoming the first pro line made in Mexico.  This marks the end of GE's sourcing arrangement with DCS.
- Siemens, the old Best Buy brand is now repositioned above Thermador.
- Missing from the Show
        -AGA, Blue Star, Caldera, Elmira, Equator, Fotile, Frigidaire, Grand Hall, Heartland, Jade, Samsung, Twin Eagles, Windster, Whirlpool
- New Brands to the Show:
        -Alywind, Blomberg, Atlan, Elica, Grotto Wine, Induc, Yosemite.  
- Of the several Chinese brands without a defined booth address, we were able to find only one:  Atlan, 
- Who had substantial booth growth without relying on pills or potions?  This is naked eye stuff, without the use of a ruler.
        -American, Duro, Kalamazoo, Kuppersbusch, Smeg, True
- Metallo Arts displayed a rangehood with a price tag of $64,000

The Best of the Best of Show
For Best of the Best, we are nominating the Thermador sensor cooktop which features simmer control, boil dry and boil over protection.  American's, having missed all the important classes in chemistry and physics, don't get that boiling is God's way of saying "No Mas, No Mas!!, the water isn't going to get any hotter.  While providing environmental benefits it also has several programs which could bring revolutionary functionality to the lowly cooktop.
SEND US YOUR NOMINATIONS.  The final choice will be by reader poll.
UPDATE Apr 17:  Monogram Pro Ranges
UPDATE Apr 18:  SMEG 36" Dishwasher
UPDATE Apr 28ASKO Dishwashers

Trends
- i-Pod type circular controls from Capital Range ovens, Haier laundry, and Siemens ovens.  Some better than others.
- LED lighting everywhere, LED blue lighting and indicators, LED light shining on knobs (GE Monogram, Lynx others), in refrigerators, LG, Liebherr
- French Door fridges with (2) freezer doors from LG, GE Monogram, Haier, Liebherr to match those already out from Sub Zero
- Mirrored surfaces from Fisher Paykel, Smeg, Fagor.  Thermador was there last year.
- Dry-wash clothing refreshing cycles using steam or mist from Bosch, LG to compete with Whirlpools Personal Valet unit.
- More colors, never enough colors.  Next year we hope to see Infra-Red.
- Dubious Environmental claims.  Why green engineer, when it is so much easier to print a green brochure.
- Induction Ranges from Diva de Provence, American Range, and prototypes from Bertazonni and Viking.  A blogger suggested that Electrolux also has one.
- New fridge drawers from Blomberg, Fisher Paykel, Viking added to those already out there from U-Line, Marvel, Sub-Zero etc etc etc.
- Chinese salesmen quietly cooking full Chinese lunches in their own booth...and not a one invited me.
- Material Cheapification with greater use of plastics and 430 stainless.  Probably everywhere considering 304 stainless cost.
- Red colored washers and dryer:  Everybody in laundry has red.

Swag Report (brands show the love for the important work the press does in repeating every word in the press releases)
- Dacor:  Continental breakfast.  No confirmation of gift but we have high hopes from the king of swag.  (See May 2008 for Dacor Swag)
- Sub Zero:  Full American breakfast + Mimosas, and a memory stick with SZ press information which is nice but doesn't really count as swag.
- Windcrest:  Body and Bath kit of bubbles, soapy stuff, a foot massage thingy, and other tingly stuff to make me silky, slinky and unbearably attractive.
- Electrolux:  Bose in-ear headphones.  $100 at Amazon.  They do nothing for me, but my wife with the Nano claims this swag was worth my humiliation.
- Fisher & Paykel:  4PM Happy Hour.  After 10 hours of the forced march through all the appliances the world has to offer, this was the best swag of all.
- Update May 1:  Perlick:  A novelty pen with magnetic donut shaped stand.......which arrived in the mail 
A New Perspective on the Definition of Appliance Necessity
The blog item below could not be better timed, published 48 hours before the biggest appliance show of the year.
Sure, the blog is from the fringe, but not an entirely unhinged fringe.  The blogger speaks for those with a twang of guilt every time they use their appliances.  She has just taken the guilt to its fullest extent.  
Manufacturers do only the minimum if anything on conservation.  There are no creative uses of waste heat, solar water heating to preheat dish water or even the the 5-6 months of the year when the outside temperature is colder than the refrigeration temperature.  You guys are stiffs.
Who Needs Appliances?
GOING TO THIS YEAR'S 2008 KBIS IN Chicago?
Take along the 7th Annual KBIS Major Appliance Dance Card

Click Link below for this year's 2008 KBIS Major Appliance Dance Card.  Print and tape the 2 pages together.
     
The 2008 Kitchen and Bath Show Dance Card

Should we also publish the Treasure Hunt Map?  We are undecided.
Our annual commentary will be in this space shortly..
March
2008
KBIS Dance Card Public Comment Period
Please check the Dance Card.  If any major appliance brands are missing, let us know.
Save your paper, it's NOT ready for printing.
Final edit will be online April 2 more or less.
See the Preliminary Dance Card 

NXR Adds Faxon in Northeast
Faxon Sales signs with NXR to distribute in the northeast from Maine through New York State .  Sierra Select signed on last year for California.

The Zone Where Appliances and Plumbing Meet
Effective March 17, Raleigh, NC has banned garbage disposers either in new installations or as replacement for existing disposers.  The move was driven by grease blockages and related sewer spills and the costs of keeping sewer lines open and flowing.  We love appliances at a level that is not entirely healthy, but this has the ring of reasonableness.  Most Asian sewer systems don't take toilet paper, so one wonders how our sewers can manage all the solids that were not considered when our systems were first designed and built.  Ground chicken bones, orange peels, grease and onion skins, never mind the occasional alligator.
InSinkerator is likely to file suit against Raleigh, but Raleigh might consider striking first.
Story 1     Story 2
Earth Shattering Paradigm Shift
ApplianceAdvisor.com is following rumors of a possible merger with global and rule changing implications.  Stay tuned.
NOTE from the Advisor:  Yes we hear your complaints.  When we are given information off the record......it is off the record, and can only be used if it is independently confirmed.  This tip was of such import and the tipper from such good stock, and blessed with such high moral fiber, that at once we believed the veracity of said tip.  As well there were circumstantial supports.  Immediately we sought the approval of our tipper to publish the cryptic message above.  
Your takeaway:  a high pressure system might be coming, and for what falls from the sky it's best not to wear white.
Will this story have the big bang surprise possibilities of  "Soylent Green is people!"   OR  "To Serve Man..........it's.....it's  a Cookbook!"
Hmmmm, probably not.
UPDATE:  Feb 22:  Per all of our remote sensors:  temperature rising.
UPDATE:  Mar 6:    Watching very very closely.
Smeg Strikes Gold
Continuing to build out its North American distribution, Italian manufacturer Smeg signs Golden West Sales to cover Northern California.
February
2008
GE and LG Sign Pact
GE and LG signed a fee-free patent cross-licensing deal for cooking and freezer technology in order to improve their competitiveness against Whirlpool.  Do freezers have technology?
See Story

The story also indicates that "LG (is) ranked No. 3 in the North American home appliances market last year in sales, after Whirlpool and the Sweden-based company. LG posted $12.6 billion in sales in 2007, while Whirlpool and Electrolux sold $19 billion and $15 billion, respectively.&