Kitchen tool wars heat up as big brands weigh in - Kmart and Wal-Mart market lines of kitchen tools

DSN Retailing Today, Feb 5, 2001 by Mike Duff

The emerging concept will include 12,000 skus in a good/better/best positioning and a multichannel strategy designed to reach the core needs of Lechter's key constituencies. Management intends to do this by taking advantage of the strength of key brands in the marketplace.

"Lechters' management has failed to adequately recognize the impact of major big-box and broadliner merchandising in the past," he said. "You will find us leveraging the name brand we have had in the store, such as Krupp and Oxo."

While Lechters regroups, Bed Bath & Beyond, if anything, continues to strengthen its gadgets business and, simultaneously, its Oxo presentation.

In a somewhat undersized store in the Orlando, Fla., suburbs, Bed Bath & Beyond mounted its full 28-ft.-long gadget wall and an additional 16 ft. on an adjoining wall. It also cross-merchandised product throughout the cookware section, which those walls helped define. Oxo's Good Grip dominated the assortment, and Bed Bath & Beyond offered a selection of the vendor's steel products. Oneida was prominent among the other vendors represented in the section, and Farberware products represented an opening price point.

Still, the ergonomic array from Oxo dominated. For example, in the wall displays, Farberware opened the pizza cutter assortment at $3.99 and an Oxo Good Grip item represented the better product at $5.99. Down among the cookware products, an oversized 4-in. Good Grip pizza cutter constituted the best selection at $9.99. Oxo sets were also offered in the section, including a swivel, peeler and paring knife for $7.99.

Wal-Mart, by the by, offered an almost identical set under the Farberware label at its supercenter. The set, which had hard plastic rather than soft handles, retailed for $1.97.

Oxo products weren't represented only in the cookware section. Up front near the registers, Bed Bath & Beyond offered a Good Grip squeegee for $7.99 and a set of four clips for $5.99. Additionally, Good Grip products were offered in lawn and garden and housewares, with a three-piece set--weeder, cultivator and trowel--selling for $19.99.

Thus, housewares retailers are staking out increasingly distinct niches for themselves in kitchen gadgets. Developing the strongest position possible may be more crucial today than yesterday.

At the recently concluded Housewares Show in Chicago, supermarket representatives were the most conspicuous among the retail channels. They attended in such numbers because they understand the traffic and margin opportunities that basic housewares represent. They want to make the relatively high margin purchase themselves rather than cede it to another retailer, and they want to keep their customers out of other channels of trade that have eagerly adopted product segments traditionally included in their territory

Beyond supermarkets, off-pricers have been expanding their home businesses, and hybrids like Kohl's have been developing their game. A Kohl's store in Oceanside, N.Y., recently included Oxo and Oneida kitchen tools among the selections in its home section. While the product offerings were limited--and apparently offered on a sell-through basis--Kohl's assortment was certainly another challenge to more established gadget retailers.