The shift to pricier cookware - at discount stores

Discount Store News, Sept 4, 1989

The Shift to Pricier Cookware

Vendors Anticipate Sales Gains As Chains Add Gourmet Items

Dining out is a very popular pastime these days, but more and more consumers who decide to eat at home are choosing to make cooking recreational. Higher-ticket cookware is becoming a common investment among these eat-at-home hobbyists, according to cookware vendors.

Retailers' views on this shift toward upper-end cookware are mixed: buyers at Hills, Rose's and Duckwall-ALCO each painted a different picture of what trends they were witnessing in the cookware category.

General Housewares, Nordic Ware and Primex are among the cookware manufacturers expecting double digit sales increases by year-end due to the rising demand for gourmet-oriented cookware sets and open stock pieces.

Vendors of moderately priced cookware, like Corning/Revere, have been caught in a dual squeeze: consumer trends toward gourmet lines on one side and on the other side, mounting competition from the Newell Co.'s three-brand cookware/bakeware dynamos Mirro, Foley and Wearever.

Corning anticipates flat or single-digit sales increases for 1989, said Al Donnelly, supervisor of consumer information. Year-end figures hinge on fourth quarter sales results.

Farberware, on the other hand, estimated that sales by year-end could be up by about 10 percent. One reason why Farberware is able to keep sales rising is because its products are appealing to the gourmet cookware customer, said Kevin O'Malley, group vice president and gmm at Farberware, Bronx, N.Y.

"Mail order sales are down. Grocery store sales are down a lot, but the kitchen specialty store business is up significantly," he said. In department stores, specialty stores and upscale discount outlets, Farberware still enjoys strong sales, O'Malley added.

"More and more customers are shopping in the kitchen specialty stores . . . More people are viewing cooking as being somewhat recreational. There has also been an attitude shift; cookware is more of an impulse purchase," he noted.

He has also witnessed a gradual increase in the gift purchase component of his business, 61 percent of which is a cookware set rather than open stock. Paul Saxton, president of General Housewares Corp., Stamford, Conn., agreed that there is a "distinct movement away from low-end cookware associated with a change in attitude toward cooking. Cooking is less often viewed as a chore," he said.

Sales of upper-end pieces are strongest at department stores where the selection and service are believed to be better, he added. "I liken the shift in sales to golf clubs. Wherever you find dedicated hobbyists, you find someone who wants to have good quality tools," Saxton explained.

Hills Department Stores, based in Canton, Mass., is gearing up for the shift toward higher-end sales. Keith Moore, cookware buyer, is currently adding or testing several stepped-up cookware pieces and sets, paring down his lower-end selections.

Moore acknowledged that some of his additions are already commonplace among other upscale discounters, but now finds the climate right among Hills customers for these additions.

Moore said he expects sales to be up between 5 percent and 10 percent by year-end, mostly due to higher-ticket cookware like branded stainless steel.

"Aluminum non-stick sales are flat or down. Glass cookware sales like Visions are flat or down. Porcelain enamel is coming back because it's now sourced out of Indonesia instead of Taiwan . . . Stainless and new products are what will be the biggest contributors to the sales increase," Moore said.

Among the assortment alterations for the fall are: the addition of open stock Revere, open stock Wearever Premium Plus line with Supra, and some items from Corning's Vista line.

New fourth quarter promotional offerings include a Farberware stainless steel set and a two-piece promotion of Nordic Ware's Advanced Performance cookware.

Tests are underway at about 20 stores on Mirro's "Gripper" heavy-gauge cookware with rubberized handles. Hills is also testing a 4-foot cast iron cookware section at 20 of its Southern stores.

In contrast, Debbie Taylor, buyer for North Carolina-based Rose's, said she expects cookware sales to be flat this year and has not witnessed any more interest in gourmet or higher-ticket cookware.

The 10-foot to 15-foot cookware department has remained fairly static: sales are basically split between steel and aluminum; 73 percent of total cookware sales are from open stock purchases, said Taylor. The strongest price points are $19.97 to $29.97 which is at the middle of her cookware price range, Taylor commented.

Richard Green, housewares buyer at Duckwall-ALCO, Abilene, Kan., said the most significant changes in cookware will be the use of new "slot wall" fixturing from Newell Co. Overall, sales are fairly constant. "We always do better in the fourth quarter, but we don't expect much increase on a same store sales basis," he said.

Seventy percent of sales are open stock. Non-stick cookware represents the bulk of his business, at about 90 percent of sales. Green believes the penetration of non-stick has peaked at this level. The Great Cooks line--cookware with both inside and outside surfaces non-stick--has performed well at ALCO stores, he added.