Print
EMail
San Antonio — The Progressive Retailers Organization was at the Westin La Cantera Hill Coun
Brand Source, the $11 billion home furnishings buying and marketing organization, unveiled a new "high-rise" display vignette from Siemens home appliances during the group's National Convention and buy fair, held here last month at the Paris, Bally's and Harrah's hotels.
Connect
ORLANDO, FLA. — High-end, second-tier majap manufacturers shrugged off the nation's economic doldrums and continued to concentrate on their well-heeled customer base at last month's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (K/BIS), held here at the Orange Country Convention Center.
Indeed, up-market wares ruled the roost on the show floor, as niche players rolled out new lines of luxury white goods in seeming defiance of dips in consumer confidence.
In its first attempt at cooperative marketing with another appliance distributor, Avanti Products is now distributing four models of the Turkish-manufactured Teba "mini-kitchen."
The units, which combine a countertop oven with various types of cooktops, range in price from $149 to $349, according to Avanti sales VP Mike Flynn. The top-end model has a Ceran cooktop.
Distribution on the mini-kitchens began in mid-April, Flynn said.
Whirlpool showcased a host of new offerings from across its collection of brands at the International Builders' Show, held here earlier this month.
The show was hosted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). According to a release, nearly 104,000 housing professionals attended and more than 1,900 suppliers across 300 categories exhibited their wares.
An expert on major appliances — or majaps as the trade lingo goes — I am not. If a device has a processor, hard drive or is somehow tech-oriented, I'm all over it, but when you are talking ice dispenser and warming drawer I sort of lose focus.
Given the distraction of a multi-billion-dollar merger with a former competitor, Whirlpool unveiled a truncated assortment of new additions to its laundry and kitchen clean-up lines at last month's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (K/BIS), held here at McCormick Center.
Among the former was a pair of innovative laundry room accessories: a laundry worksurface and a vertical laundry tower, developed to address the problem of under- or poorly-utilized laundry room space.
Marvel Industries, the Richmond, Ind.-based maker of premium undercounter refrigeration products, presented 10 of its distributors with Arctic Circle Awards for outstanding performance at its national sales meeting, held here during last month's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show.
The awards, created in 1991, were presented by general manager Richard Detrick and sales and marketing director Larry Ferguson to distributors that met or exceeded their target sales goals for the previous year.
Time constraints on consumers, the tendency of families to congregate in the kitchen, and wider adoption of broadband Internet access are helping to prime the pump for smart appliance acceptance.
But high prices, limited household space and consumer technophobia represent considerable barriers to entry, which must be overcome before the connected kitchen becomes commonplace.
Micro-Trim, a 25-year-old supplier of standard and custom trim kits for residential and commercial cooktops and thermal and microwave ovens, is reminding dealers that its color-coated aluminum overlays can serve as a compelling adjunct to traditional majap sales.
Use of this website is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
If you are having trouble accessing TWICE content or wish to subscribe to TWICE Online please email customercare@mypressplus.com or call 866-71-PRESS (866-717-7377).
