Housewares has re-emerged as a major money-making

BY RUTH FURMAN
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Housewares has re-emerged as a major money-making
department for home improvement retailers, who have
learned how to better co-exist with category killers
such as Wal-Mart. According to the International
Housewares Association (IHA), the total U.S. consumer expenditures on housewares in 2004 reached
$65.2 billion, and much of that money was spent in
hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards.
DO•IT•YOURSELF RETAILING/MARCH 2006
33
HOUSEWARES
T
here are a number of different
ways retailers can display merchandise and promote products to maximize their housewares department
sales. “It’s a continuous growth
industry,” says Perry Reynolds, vice president-marketing and trade development for
IHA. “When the economy is going wild,
we benefit. And when it cools down, people
stay home and the home is our most important investment. We continue to spend
against that investment both in remodeling
and in the products that fill it.”
A closer look at who is buying housewares shows the baby boomers are the driving force behind the higher-end price points
in the category, according to Reynolds.
“When they remodel their kitchens, they
choose high-end major appliances,” he says.
“They also put in higher-end coffeemakers
and buy higher-end cookware. The expansion of price points impacts virtually every
category as a direct result of the higher disposable income of the boomer generation.”
Right behind the baby boomers is
Generation X, people in their mid-20s to
early 40s, who are starting families later in
life and needing housewares items to do it.
“They are focused on finding those types
of unique products that don’t carry a large
price tag,” says Reynolds.
According to the NPD Group, which
studies trends in housewares, there is a
continued push toward smarter and more
versatile products in core appliance and
housewares categories, a trend driven by
the continuing demand for convenience
and functionality. Reynolds adds that the
home/hardware channel continues to
make inroads into selling major appliances.
The NPD Group anticipates seeing more
products inspired by sleek, clean line design
trends. It will be most evident in cookware,
though not exclusive to this area alone. “The
growing significance of the kitchen as the
focal point of the home is what will continue
to encourage consumers to be more particular in the design aspects of their housewares
and appliance products. However, as we have
learned from past experiences, product performance and functionality cannot be sacrificed in the process,” states the NPD Group
Continued on page 38
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DO•IT•YOURSELF RETAILING/MARCH 2006
Foothills Hardware, which bills itself as “The Headquarters for Canning Supplies,” has found a year-round market for those items.
John Sullivan at Foothills Hardware in Maryville, Tenn., has discovered a successful niche with cleaning products not carried by the
mass merchandisers.
HOUSEWARES
Shoppertainment Ap p roach Sells More Products
It’s no longer just about selling stuff; it’s
about the customer’s experience—an experience they can only get from you.
It’s called “shoppertainment” and retail
consultant Georganne Bender, of Kizer &
Bender Speaking in St. Charles. Ill., says it’s key
to building foot traffic, increasing sales and
differentiating yourself from competitors.
The crux of the concept is in-store
events that make shopping fun. “Even people who already know and love your store
will drop you in a minute if they can buy
what they need and have more fun in
another store,” points out Bender, citing a
recent retail customer survey that reports
78 percent of satisfied customers will go
someplace else if the other location is
more fun. “Today’s customers have too
many choices. That means your store has
to be different, unique—really unique—
because customers can buy the things you
sell in any number of places,” she says.
Peter Albrecht, general manager of
Cambridge, Mass.-based Tags Ace Hardware,
is a big believer in shoppertainment. Tags
conducts special events throughout the year,
including a popular event held the weekend
Amateur chef Loren Gifford (left), owner of Vail Valley Ace
Hardware in Vail, Colo., generated publicity for the store by
winning the 2005 Beaver Creek World Cup Chef Challenge with
cooking partner Steve Pope (right).
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DO•IT•YOURSELF RETAILING/MARCH 2006
Partnering with a nearby bookstore to have cookbook authors do in-store demos helped boost foot traffic at Tags Hardware in
Cambridge, Mass.
before Thanksgiving where housewares vendors demonstrate their innovative products.
Promotional postcards offer discounts for
each day of the sale to spur repeat business.
Tags also partners with a nearby bookstore
to have cookbook authors do in-store demos.
While the bookstore receives the proceeds
from book sales, Tags draws in-store traffic.
Several years ago, Paul’s Ace Hardware in
Scottsdale, Ariz., held a publicity-generating
event in conjunction with the Phoenician
Resort. During a cooking class called “Tool
Time Desserts,” Phoenician Resort chefs used
various power tools, including blowtorches,
power painters, trowels and spreaders. It
wasn’t all for show—the chefs commonly
purchase their cooking tools at the hardware
store because they are less expensive yet do
the same job as those found at pricey culinary stores, says Holly Van of Paul’s Ace.
Amateur chef Loren Gifford, owner of
Vail Valley Ace Hardware in Vail, Colo., participated in the 2005 Beaver Creek World
Cup Chef Challenge—a take on TV’s “Iron
Chef”—where he and cooking partner Steve
Pope had to prepare a meal with mystery
ingredients in 20 minutes. Pope and Gifford
won the contest and generated a good
deal of publicity on TV and in the newspaper, leading to more foot traffic in the store.
Gifford frequently plans events to draw
shoppers in, recently pairing an in-store
event with a cooking demonstration. “This
helps us promote the fact that we are not
just a typical hardware store,” he says. The
owner recommends always using products
and items sold in the store during demos
to spur additional sales.
Darlene Oldfield, owner of Oldfield True
Value Hardware in the farming community
of Brussels, Ontario, holds in-store events to
promote the store’s housewares and giftware departments as well as its Sears catalog
desk. One such event is their spring early
bird sale, where customers who come in to
shop in their pajamas get 30 percent off. The
store also offers a popular gift registry and is
able to coordinate contributions and create
large gift baskets for the bride-to-be.
To celebrate 100 years in business,
Wisnom Hardware in San Mateo, Calif.,
hosted a week of in-store events this past
November. Each day featured a different
theme such as “Try It, You’ll Like It Day,”
where customers got hands-on experience with some of Wisnom’s most popular
merchandise.
Create an audience-generating event at
your store and your efforts will be rewarded
with more traffic and higher sales.
HOUSEWARES
Continued from page 34
in a recent report. “Additionally, we can look
for manufacturers adding more ethnic, as
well as novelty inspired, products to their
lineups as a means of capitalizing off of the
growing trend toward multicultural cuisine
and home entertaining.”
To meet consumers’ demand for housewares, some hardware stores are starting to
resemble home goods stores. “Channels are
blurring and people are looking for home
products in a lot of different types of stores,”
says Reynolds. “The opportunity is there for
any merchant to capitalize on home goods.”
MAKE HOUSEWARES WORK
Retailers in all types of markets are
jumping on the housewares bandwagon,
because it helps create and fill a niche and
bring in business.
Differentiating his offerings from the mass
merchandisers has worked for Scotty Steele,
manager of Winchester, Tenn.-based Poultry
Electric PRO Hardware, who has a Wal-Mart
directly behind his store. Steele sets his
housewares department apart by specializing
in products not stocked by the retail giant,
including commercial-grade products that he
markets to restaurants and churches. For
example, Poultry Electric PRO Hardware
stocks a full line of janitorial supplies and
restaurant supplies, many of which are
sought after for church benefits and community pancake breakfasts. “We have added a
lot of revenue and gross sales to our business
through this niche,” Steele says.
To bring the hometown touch and continue to set his store apart, Steele offers free
delivery on Fridays, a service a number of
customers appreciate. He sells restaurantgrade party supplies, too, which has earned
the store a reputation in that niche and
serves as a draw for customers not able to
find the supplies elsewhere. The store also
does well by stocking several different types
of ice cream freezers and coffee makers.
Sell Mo re Ho u s ewares By Painting a Pi ct u re
Another effective technique for getting
customers to buy housewares products is
to show how the products can be used in
the home with a “lifestyle display.”
Retail consultants Rich Ki zer and
Georganne Bender suggest creating a
“room” in a store’s display space area to
show how products can fit into the home.
“Not only will this technique serve as an
attention getter, but it will put customers
in the mood to buy,” Bender says. Use
props, such as home decor items you sell,
to add realistic touches to the space.
“To showcase a grill, you might use
wicker furniture, patio furniture or a picnic table set for a summer evening feast,”
says Kizer. “In the fall, try crates, boxes or
weathered benches surrounding an outdoor fireplace.”
Create displays that are approachable
and easy to walk around and enter so that
customers can touch whatever they want
and not feel as though they are disturbing
a masterpiece. If you have added sellable
merchandise to your vignette, make sure
those products can be found nearby.
Use lifestyle displays to highlight your
housewares department and set it apart
from your competition. Pick up merchandising ideas by visiting upscale specialty
retailers such as Pottery Barn or Williams
Sonoma, visit model homes, tune into
HGTV, browse the home fashion displays
in department and furniture stores or
thumb through magazines and catalogs.
Fixtures that make sense for displaying
hardware products will not get the job
done with housewares items, particularly
if your assortment tilts toward the upscale
side. Instead, choose fixtures and props
that are designed to create an image and
turn browsers into spenders.
CLEANING UP
Allison Wisnom, co-manager and buyer
for San Mateo, Calif.-based Wisnom
Hardware, is the fourth generation of her
family in the business. The Ace Hardware
store thrives by offering a large number of
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DO•IT•YOURSELF RETAILING/MARCH 2006
Tags Hardware in Cambridge, Mass., used color to carry out a display theme for popcorn-related products.
HOUSEWARES
cleaning and housewares products, including spot removers, drain cleaners, marble
polish and furniture waxes, along with
ironing boards, plate hangers and card
tables. Customers are continuously
amazed at how many different items can
be found on every shelf.
“We have had a cleaning and housewares
department for as long as we can remember,” Wisnom said. “Female customers are at
least half of our customer base, and the selection of products we carry appeals to them.”
The best-selling items are furniture polishes,
moth and moisture products, silver care, and
cleaning and floor care products. Wisnom’s
also carries kitchen gadgets, baking gadgets,
small electrics and storage items.
Wisnoms has one full-time buyer for the
housewares department and four other
employees who work in its housewares,
Tags Hardware in Cambridge, Mass., created this display to sell baking products around the holidays.
MARKET RESEARCH
Discover the Latest Product Trends in Housewares
Consumer demand for convenience
continues to lead to new product innovation in the housewares category. Today’s
consumers are looking for products that
will make life easier without sacrificing
style and value, according to Peter Greene,
vice president of NPD Houseworld.
What follows are some housewares product trends from Housewares MarketWatch,
published by the International Housewares
Association with research data from the
NPD Group.
■ Slow cookers are enjoying a resurgence
in popularity, largely due to advances
in design and technology. Unit volume
increased by 6.9 percent in 2004 and
3.0 percent in 2005. Slow cookers with
a capacity of 5.1-6.0 quarts represented
the largest share of sales in the third
quarter of 2005— nearly 27 percent.
■ Innovation is also evident in the bakeware category, where silicone has
crossed over from the commercial to
the consumer sector. Silicone bakeware,
which offers superior release, non-stick
properties and the ability to withstand
high temperatures, accounted for 3 percent of total bakeware units sold in the
12 months ending March 2005, compared to 0.6 percent for the same
period the previous year.
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DO•IT•YOURSELF RETAILING/MARCH 2006
■ In kitchen electrics, 49 percent of all
blenders sold in the first quarter of
2005 had plastic containers, while 80
percent of toasters sold featured cooltouch housing.
■ In the home environment category, 48
percent of water filtration devices sold
in the first quarter of 2005 were faucetmount models, and HEPA filtration systems accounted f or 54 percent of
upright vacuums sold. More than 60
percent of stick vacuums sold had a
removable stick handle for conversion.
■ In non-electrics, 65 percent of all flatware sold in the third quarter of 2005
had a bright/mirror finish, and metal
bakeware accounted for 63 percent of
bakeware units sold. Air insulated bakeware represented 5 percent of sales.
■ More than one-fourth of mixers sold in
the third quarter of 2005 were standtype mixers, while pod coffeemakers
represented 4 percent of drip coffeemaker sales.
■ Nearly half of all irons sold in the third
quarter of 2005 were self-cleaning,
while almost 80 percent of hairdryers
sold during that period had a wattage
in excess of 1800.
Cookwa re
Sales Volumes Jan.-Dec. 2005
Units (000) Dollars (000)
Total
20,478 $695,503
Primary Material – Unit Share
Unit %
Aluminum
38.9%
Stainless Steel
31.5%
Anodized Aluminum 18.9%
Steel
6.8%
Cast Iron
3.2%
Copper
0.5%
Other
0.2%
Source: The NPD Group/Point-of-sale information
Ma rket Si ze
Third Quarter 2005
(Unit volume in thousands)
Source: The NPD Group/Point-of-sale information
HOUSEWARES
cookware and giftware departproduct gifts to some of the
ments. The store doesn’t make
homeowners associations for new
spur-of-the-moment decisions
home buyers.” The store thanks
about carrying a product and
real estate professionals each year
instead conducts consumer
with a Christmastime breakfast.
research and trials before dediAce in the Hills is located just
cating the shelf space to a new
outside the growing market of
item, according to Wisnom.
Austin, and the store attempts
John Sullivan operates
to offer the look and feel of speFoothills Hardware Priced Right
cialty retailers such as Crate &
Everyday!® in Maryville, Tenn.
Barrel, Pottery Barn or Williams
Located next to a “dollar store,”
Sonoma, says Santamaria.
Foothills Hardware is also near
Housewares and gifts are merseveral big-box home centers
chandised throughout the store,
and mass merchandisers. Sullivan
mostly on custom fixtures. “This
sets his housewares department
was an integral part of our origiapart by specializing in certain
nal business plan and the store
lines of products not found elsewas created (in 1998) around it,”
where. “The key to success in
she says. Focusing on high-end
housewares is to determine the
housewares has helped the retailer
niche in your area,” advises
exceed the industry average transSullivan. “Look at product cateaction size of $17. The store’s
gories, shop your competition
average transaction for 2005 was
and see where the gaps are.”
$19.31 and during the month of
Sullivan found those gaps to
December it was $22.23.
be in cleaning and canning supTags, a hardware and houseplies. In its cleaning lineup, the
wares store in Cambridge,
store offers high-grade mops,
Mass., competes for customers
brooms and cloths. Cleaning
with upscale shops, gift shops
Ross True Value in Chickasha, Okla., recently started offering customers a bridal registry,
supplies not stocked by the big
and independent housewares
which has helped boost sales in the housewares category. Wooden shelves are used to
boxes—such as shop towels,
stores, along with mass merchandisplay products such as picture frames.
paint and glue removers, cleandisers and big boxes. The store’s
ers, one-wipe dust cloths and galvanized
cornbread cookers, on-the-burner percolamore than 50 years of history combined
trash cans—bring in a lot of traffic.
tors and commercial-grade coffee pots. As an
with a hot location offering plenty of foot
“One customer drives to Maryville once
added service to busy customers, the store
traffic contribute to its success. “Part of
a month to take her mom to the doctor,”
installs pressure cooker gaskets and fuses and
our rent is a marketing expense,” says
says Sullivan. “She makes a special trip
also sharpens scissors and kitchen knives.
Peter Albrecht, general manager.
here and last time bought every one-wipe
While Sullivan knows his customers will
In the housewares department, Tags tardust cloth we had, because she said she
be likely to buy vacuum cleaners from his
gets upscale shoppers by featuring products
couldn’t find them anywhere else.”
competitors, he sells plenty of vacuum
and brands customers would not expect to
Another niche area Foothills Hardware
cleaner bags and belts. He is also quick
see in a hardware store. “We have $9.99
has developed is in canning supplies. It
to respond to customer requests, adding
and $19.99 items for students, but set up
offers the products year-round and proitems such as tin can crushers and hot plates.
beside those things we have higher-end
motes itself as “The Headquarters for
items, such as cookware made by All-Clad
CONNECT WITH HOME BUYERS
Canning Supplies.” Hot-selling canning
and Le Creuset,” he says.
products include jars, wax, canning funSusan Santamaria, owner of Ace in the
The store’s gadget department is a big
nels, jar lifts, lids, relief valves, pressure
Hills in Dripping Springs, Texas, gets to
draw, and buyer Theresa McGowan is up
cookers and canners. When customers
her target market through associations with
to the challenge to keep it that way. “We
come in for special gaskets that may be
others such as real estate agents, who proneed to keep bringing in the innovative
discontinued, Sullivan and his staff fremote the store to prospective home buyers.
things and displaying them in such a way
quently cross-sell new products.
“We have custom packaging that shows up
to set them apart,” McGowan says. “The
Customers also come to Foothills
with gifts from our store at the majority of
key to generating interest and making it
Hardware seeking hard-to-find items
real estate closings in this area,” says Sanwork is studying the market and finding a
such as cast-iron cookware, Dutch ovens,
tamaria. “We provide a package of sample
niche you and your store can fill.” ■
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