It’s a constant source of amazement to many, myself included, how many appliance brands are available on the Australian landscape and how things change on a regular basis. This week saw Think Appliances, owner and distributor of the Baumatic, Venini and Damani brands, being sold to Home Appliances. This announcement comes after weeks of industry speculation about the future of Baumatic.
Home Appliances currently distributes the Euromaid, IAG and ARC cooking brands and is owned by the publicly listed McPherson’s, which also owns Wiltshire, Stanley Rogers, Lady Jayne and Multix, among other brands.
And also this week we saw the announcement out of Electrolux. Electrolux’s head office in Stockholm, Sweden has chosen Rayong in Thailand over Orange in New South Wales to manufacture its Westinghouse, Kelvinator and Electrolux branded refrigerators. The local plant will close in 2016.
BIS Shrapnel produced a report about 18 months ago suggesting that 30% of Australian consumers, if they had the choice, would choose either Smeg or Miele as their first choice when purchasing a new appliance. That effectively means that two thirds would be left to decide between 90 other brand names.
90!! That’s right – 90. How does a market with an estimated 450,000 new kitchens per annum support 92 brands? Quite honestly, I don’t know, but I feel desperately sorry for retailers who somehow have to choose between that many brand names and display those products that they feel fit their mix of customers. In these circumstances, relationships between business owners and product distributors, becomes increasingly important. Sources close to one major appliance supplier told TKBB yesterday that there’s more work done today on relationship building than ever before and those with the best of relationships with owners and buyers were worth their weight in gold.
So who do you support in the appliance arena – and why? Let us know!
