Mulchers sweep L&G industry - lawn and garden equipment industry

Discount Store News, Sept 7, 1992

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Mulching has taken over the power mower industry as an environmentally driven issue and air pollution regulations from mower engines looms on the horizon.

Vendors that formerly relied on two-step distribution now are also attempting to tackle the mass market--without alienating their dealers.

And a fashion color craze--including a mower engine in teal--is sweeping through the outdoor power equipment industry as vendors seek to differentiate their products.

Meanwhile, the horsepower race, driven by the power demands of both mulching and self-propulsion, continues. Those were the key trends at Expo '92, the lawn and garden show of Outdoor Power Equipment Institute held in Louisville July 26 to 28.

Vendors this year, including MTD, Murray, Dynamark and O.M. Scott, offer mulching capability on almost all their mowers, both walk behind and riding.

For 1993, vendors are making two types of mulchers, including, as last year, dedicated models that can only mulch and optional kits that convert a side discharge or rearbagging mower into a mulcher.

The mulching kits add about $15 to the cost of a walk behind and about $40 to a rider.

The advantage of the convertibility feature: gardeners can mow conventionally if their lawns get too long for effective mulching.

In addition, vendors including Universal Industrial Products, Pioneer, Ohio, and BSE Marketing, Hazleton, Pa., are offering mulching blades that they claim will mulch effectively without modifications to mower decks.

Cities such as Pittsburgh this year and Chicago last year are pushing the mulching movement by banning grass dippings and other yard waste from their dumps.

Deanne Witt, a Price Club buyer, was taking a hard look at the Rally mulchers on display at the show. "I want to expand mulchers, Wit said, but "I haven't decided what brands to add."

Another environmental issue, air pollution from power equipment engines, will affect the power equipment industry by the end of the decade. Briggs & Stratton contends that the stringent California exhaust emissions for mower engines will significantly impact the cost of engines when they take affect in 1999.

Engine manufacturers might have to add catalytic converters, as well as redesign engines, such as changing cylinder molds, in order to meet those standards, said Steve Rugg, vice president, sales and marketing. A catalytic converter alone costs between $9 and $11.

Airens, Homelite and Yard Man are but three of the twostep vendors that have bowed to the inevitable and are making a major effort to get their share of the business that now goes to suppliers of discount stores and home centers.

Airens is testing its products in three Lowe's home centers. The price competition from, say, Wal-Mart and Home Depot is so intense that Airens dealers now act more like manufacturer reps, selling directshipped goods on commission, rather than a wholesaler that carries inventory, an Airens spokesman said.

In an innovation that gives zero-radius turning ability to a walk behind mower, Airens has added rotating front wheels to a self-propelled, 5.5 horsepower model. The easy turning feature adds about $30 to a $599 retail. Murray Ohio said there is no demand for such a feature on its mass market mowers, but the Airens introduction shows that the swiveling feature is moving down from commercial mowers, such as Kee, to the servicing dealer level.

Homelite, which already has made inroads into mass market channels, announced it is following customer trends by segmenting its offerings into three distinct brands: Bandit for the mass market, Classic for dealers and the Pro Series for professional landscapers.

Homelite offered at Expo '92 three items priced for the mass market: the Mudbuster power washer for home, car and boat cleaning projects, about $250 at retail; a lightweight tiller, also about $250, and a lightweight edger, about $170.

Yard Man, an MTD brand, has dropped out of the servicing dealer market and restructured its products into a mass market line of three walk-behind mowers, three riders (all with mulcher capability) and a chipper. It expects to position its products as a step-up line priced between MTD and Scott, which Kmart is carrying. Yard Man changed colors to yellow and metallic green from red to emphasize new direction.

Dynamark also is attempting to differentiate itself from Murray and MTD by dropping red for teal, with cream trim.

But in a reserve switch, Rally has adopted red and has dropped its traditional green and yellow. It said the new color will differentiate itself from its sister company, Weed Eater, which uses green and yellow for its mowers and string trimmers.

But Murray and MTD both are sticking with red.

In a burst of fashion color, Briggs & Stratton has gone beyond basic black to offer engines in a variety of designer hues. Vendors now can individualize their mowers with engines painted teal, lime green, royal blue, lemon yellow and a purple hue dubbed "California Raisin."

Because of the increased power demands of self-propulsion and mulching, 40% of the walk-behind mower engines Briggs & Stratton will sell this year pack four to five and half horses. The 60% market share for 3 HP and 3.5 HP engines from B&S is falling rapidly.