Best Buy buffs up appliance selection

Discount Store News, August 15, 1994 by Pete Hisey

EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. -- Best Buy's Concept III megastore will include a new and exclusive brand, Frigidaire Crown Series, developed by Frigidaire specifically for the CE chain.

Frigidaire Crown Series will join Whirlpool in Best Buy's mid-to-upper-end offering, supplementing lower-end lines of White Westinghouse, also supplied by Frigidaire, and Roper. The company also sells a small selection of Amana products nationally and Maytag products in Midwestern and Texas stores.

The Crown Series offers Best Buy the best of two worlds: a significant national brand and skus that can't be matched by competitors. It also solves a major distribution problem for Frigidaire, which can now expand its distribution by selling to Best Buy without alienating its existing retail base, which won't have to compete with Best Buy on an item-by-item basis.

The major advantage to Best Buy though, is "an esthetically superior product line," said John Bohntinsky, vice president, merchandising and appliances. "Also, it allows us to capitalize on the Frigidaire customer in the marketplace. About two-thirds of appliance buyers have a brand preference, and about two-thirds of them end up buying their preferred brand."

Best Buy's philosophy is "not to sell a customer what we want to sell them, but what they want to buy. has a strong position in the market, and by broadening our assortment, we can become more of a destination store."

The Frigidaire Crown Series line won't replace existing product (apart from a few overlapping skus from sister company White Westinghouse), but will expand Best Buy's assortment.

Introduction will be delayed until Concept III stores debut in Los Angeles September 26. Such a move will allow Best Buy to take advantage of the size of the new 60,000-sq.-ft. prototype--about 30% larger than traditional Best Buy megastores and twice the size of the chain's smallest units--and to allow Frigidaire to match production levels to Best Buy's sales pace.

Older stores will be expanded over the next year, and the Crown Series line will be phased in as the remodels reach completion.

The appliance market has been flat for several years, and Bohntinsky said that the purpose behind the introduction is "a bigger piece of the pie. We're determined to grow this business, and better brands and added breadth give us more credibility."

The next step, he said, will be the addition of gourmet-type products and a limited selection of professional-style goods.

"Concept III's strategy is to appeal to the enthusiast in all the businesses we address," Bohntinsky said. "We want to add some excitement to the (cooking) category, and the Frigidaire line takes us in that direction."

In the near future Best Buy will also test cookware, again positioned to appeal to the enthusiast, probably with upmarket goods.

While the chain has addressed cookware in the past, it was a highly limited test of traditional mass market products. Bohntinsky said that the company will "probe the category... we have terrific traffic and there is clear product association with our appliance business. The question is can we get the right assortment and do it right?"

Buyers are being encouraged to try new product areas storewide, he noted, and cookware, as well as small electrics--another business that Best Buy tried at one point without success--are two that seem to have promise.

Bohntinsky also noted that the Crown Series deal "continues our strong partnership relations with Frigidaire. There are obvious benefits to Best Buy, but as we become a stronger destination store, all partners benefit as well."

Adding Frigidaire marks the second major change to the appliance department in the year since Bohntinsky joined Best Buy from Sears; Roper was added to buttress the midprice line last summer.

The only skus trimmed from Best Buy's assortment will be White Westinghouse products that overlap with the lower end of the Crown Series line.

The product lineup will include refrigerators, gas and electric ranges, washers, dryers, dishwashers, freezers, microwave ovens and built-in cooking appliances.

Company chairman Richard Schulze noted that the chain's upcoming Concept III megastore will include a full-motion video Product Information System that will explain the engineering advantages of the Crown Series line. Said Schulze: "Engineering advantages are nearly impossible to explain on the sales floor. The Product Information System will address that."