Housewares

Discount Store News, Oct 20, 1997

Sophisticated private label programs that deliver quality, ontrend merchandise have cast a shadow on the importance of purchasing national brands in housewares.

Store brands/private label have become so widely accepted by consumers that 66% of those surveyed indicated a willingness to buy a private label or store brand in this category. What's more, only 51% of consumers had a brand preference, down from 71% last year, a five-year low.

About 20% of Kmart shoppers, 25% of Wal-Mart shoppers and 19% of Target shoppers named store brand/private label as a preferred brand. Of the Big Three, only Target retailers singled out store brands/private label as among their top performing brands.

But national brands still have significant stature in housewares. Among consumers, Rubbermaid and Black & Decker were favored, each garnering 14% of mentions as preferred brands.

Mr. Coffee made a move gaining five percentage points over last year, with 9% of mentions as a preferred brand. Here, too, a commitment to providing unique products at a value proved a winning strategy.

The same holds true for T-Fal, which raised its profile among retailers through new products geared specifically toward the mass market. For the first time, the brand was mentioned as a top performer by 17% of retailers and shared the No. 1 spotlight with Rubbermaid among Kmart retailers, with 39% of whom named each a top performer. It also made an impact with consumers, with 6% naming a preferred brand after a one-year hiatus. Three newcomers were welcomed as preferred brands by consumers: Anchor Hocking, Hefty/Mobil and Oster, each receiving 2% of mentions. The only new entrant for retailers was Hoover, which used the past 12 months to introduce several innovative vacuums. Falling off this year's list were Tucker and O'Cedar, which didn't make the cut with retailers.

Discounters

Brand              1997   1996

Rubbermaid         40%    25%
T-Fal              17     --
Black & Decker     16     26
Mr. Coffee         14     18
Corelle/Corning/   13      6
 Visions
Sterilite          12      7
Hoover             10     --
Revere              9     --
Proctor-Silex       8     23
Sunbeam             7     --
Discount Store Shoppers

Brand              1997   1996

Rubbermaid         14%    14%
Black & Decker     14     11
Mr. Coffee          9      4
Proctor-Silex       7      8
T-FAL               6     --
General Electric    5     13
Corning             3      4
Ekco                2      4
Anchor Hocking      2     --
Hefty/Mobil         2     --