Appliances

Conservation efforts and energy rebates are major influences on consumers’ major appliance purchase decisions. That’s the word from Sears, based on a recent consumer...

The Bush Administration has proposed a rollback of Clinton-era energy standards that would have required a 30 percent increase in the efficiency of central...

From January’s vantage point, the road ahead in 2002 looked rather bleak for the major appliance industry. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)...

Factory sales of full-size household vacuum cleaners fell 6.2 percent during the first quarter of 2002 to 4.9 million units, the Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers...

BSH Home Appliances president/CEO Hans-Peter Haase will retire July 1 after 10 months in the job. He will be succeeded by Franz Bosshard, currently...

Salton Inc., the countertop appliance marketer known for its Toastmaster, Juiceman, George Foreman and Welbilt product lines, has resurrected the venerable Westinghouse brand for...

In its first foray into sports marketing, Maytag has become a corporate sponsor of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) for the 2002 and...

Riding a wave of conspicuous home spending, majap makers provided merchants with plenty of ammunition for trade-up sales at this month’s Kitchen/Bath Industry Show...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman presented Energy Star Partner Awards to 36 businesses and organizations last month in recognition of their efforts to...

Whirlpool is making a pair of strategic acquisitions designed to bolster its business in Latin America and Central Europe. Last month the company announced...

Independent distributor Crosley Corp. will mount an aggressive new sales program this year designed to boost business by 20 percent and to make independent...

Whirlpool plans to buy out Vitro S.A.’s 51 percent stake in the partners’ Mexican majap joint venture, Vitromatic S.A. de C.V., for $150 million...

BSH Home Appliances broke ground on a $154 million factory expansion here last month that will dramatically increase its U.S. production output. The company...

Haier America has acquired a six-story building in Midtown Manhattan that will house the majap and A/V supplier’s corporate offices and R&D labs. The...

Atlanta — GE Appliances followed up last year’s expansive 70-model Builders’ Show rollout with new additions to its Profile and Monogram lines. Moreover, the...

Ames, Iowa — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory here say they have perfected a magnetic refrigerator that uses water instead...

Washing machines come in a variety of sizes and styles, arguably one for every type of consumer. Although the public is very adamant about...

Tucked among the gadgets and gizmos at the Consumer Electronics Show, held here earlier this month, was a prototype oven that refrigerates food and...

Despite an uptick in majap shipments during the waning months of 2001 (see story p. 10), the industry outlook for the new year is...

Floor care manufacturers continue to raise the bar for product launches by bringing out new cleaning systems, enhancing the features of more traditional products,...

Major appliances, a once staid category, was anything but in 2001. Despite the most somber of Septembers, the industry finally entered a positive spin...

Whirlpool is launching a new Web-based platform that will allow it to conduct warranty and service claims transactions with its independent contractors online by...

Factory shipments of major appliances defied the weak economy, falling consumer confidence and soft retail sales by forging ahead 5.2 percent in unit volume...

Floor care manufacturers are raising the bar on new introductions by enhancing the features of conventional products and bringing new cleaning systems to market....

Whirlpool has reassigned executive VP/North America Michael Todman after seven months on the job, and went outside the company — and the appliance industry...

Electrolux has tapped Hans Straberg to succeed president/CEO Michael Treschow, who is leaving the company in March to become chairman of mobile phone manufacturer...

Independent dealers could help level the playing field between themselves and their big-box competitors by employing a host of simple yet powerful merchandising and...

Maytag will trim its white-collar ranks by 225 positions, largely to eliminate job overlaps resulting from the integration of its recently acquired Amana operation....

Washers

For most of the summer, the country’s unseasonably temperate climes left retailers laden with stockpiles of unsold room air conditioners. But just when dealers...

Whirlpool formally introduce its new front loading Duet washer and companion dryer to independent dealers during the recent spate of buying group shows. The...

Whirlpool Corp. launched an enhanced version of its online order-management system, called Partner Store, which allows its North American retail customers to manage their...

Building on its premium mantle, BSH Home Appliances is reinvigorating its business by installing new leadership and committing $200 million to its war chest....

Maytag’s newly acquired Amana division is beginning to roll out its next-generation refrigeration platform. The newly designed side-by-side line, dubbed Ice ‘N Water, includes...

Compared with their consumer electronics counterparts, technological innovation comes to major appliances in evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, increments. Unlike the engineering breakthroughs that have...

Building on the success of their high-end Calypso laundry line, Sears and Whirlpool have collaborated again on a super premium washer and paired dryer....

Despite a looming energy crisis and rising power costs, consumers are unwilling to pay more for energy-efficient appliances that could trim their electric bills....

NEW YORK —There’s a shift afoot in consumer buying patterns for major appliances, and it doesn’t bode well for the multi-regional CE/majap chains. According...