Research . . . Original Message Mar 16, 2009 1:52 pm
Hi,
I'd like to start researching financials and annual reports regarding some of the more significant vacuum makers -- both corporate and private. Surely there's a way for private individuals to do this but I need some advice and ideas as to how to go about it without the process becoming expensive.
The US majors that are publicly owned post the financial results on their web sites if you navigate through them. But usually rather late in the year following the operations due to the reasons I've already posted. You have to have alittle accounting and finance wherewithal to read between the accounts and numbers. Usually the industry entities that track and report on such matters, like NPD and even CR, will excerpt the key brand name numbers and report too. But takes time. Most of the publicly owned companies, not just in the vacuum industry, but across all sectors have not issued their 2008 financials and won't for at least several more weeks.
Privately held, like dyson, as I mentioned wait until the filing date which is much longer than the time constraints for the publicly owned ad traded.
Within the last week several industry watchers like This Week in Consumer Electronics and NPD have released preliminary data on appliance sales at several big retailers like Sears, Lowes, and Home Depot. Not so much the hard numbers and dollar data but percentages. Again, due to the nature of appliance sales and retailers' financial reporting.
The article which appeared in the March 18, 2009 WSJ has not been posted on-line yet [so I couldn't post the link]. It's author is Mary Ellen Lloyd. The article is "Sear's Market Share Rises."
According to MIELE, on a yearly basis, the German MIELE plant ships ONE MILLION vacuums worldwide for sale. [That doesn't count the MIELE's made in other countries].
I'm still at work on this -- surely moving but doing it slowly. Besides my involvement with job hunting, the car up and went dramatic on me. It wanted a new fuel pump. What could I do but say yes?
You knew it was not a new and unproven 'test' model! You knew when you made the purchase that BMW's like all other cars require frequent maintenance, despite what the sales people say, and with BMW these come at a higher cost than most, unless you can fend for yourself.
Perhaps catlady is reading too. She hopes to get 8-10 years out of the MIELE Salsa. At $100 per year for just the bags, not counting the other items that MOLE pointed out will go bad during this time, she's looking down the road at some hefty out of pocket costs.
You knew it was not a new and unproven 'test' model! You knew when you made the purchase that BMW's like all other cars require frequent maintenance, despite what the sales people say, and with BMW these come at a higher cost than most, unless you can fend for yourself.
Carmine D.
True Carmine but I take the event last week as one more of life's little surprises. If anything is painful it's expensive repairs that are required at not necessarily opportune times. I had the car checked out by a very experienced mechanic before I bought it and, overall, it has been running well. (He said one speeding ticket later.) Bad roads as opposed to bad car were more my problem.
I also wouldn't have been half as irritated if this had not happened after I'd just had an oil change and the mechanic informed me that he'd, "looked the car over" and everything seemed fine. Most fortunately, the car started right up for the trip home from the shop and I wasn't aware of any problems until I went down to the garage to take it out again. I could have been stranded on the road as I am told that fuel pumps die right out of the blue. Imagine that! She refused to die until she got me home.
There are great things under the hood like a chain instead of a belt for timing plus lots of sensors to keep you aware of possible problems. I am told that 100,000 miles on my car may be considered just the beginning. However . . .
I think Melanie's got a good chance. If the only problem she's had after many months of daily use is needing a hose repair -- that ain't bad. Most of the repair people here get plenty of demand for the replacement of stretch hoses on all brands I'm sure. They endure a lot of stress. In any event, Melanie appears to be a conscientious user and, if she continues to keep tabs on bag fill and the brush roll she should do well with the brand new one.
That's all that matters! You can't put on price on that!
BTW, my sister owned a 1984 BMW for 20 years only to trade in for a new Mercedes in 2004. She still has the Mercedes but, like you, due to unexpected repairs is looking to trade up. Of course, while hers was being repaired, she was 'loaned' a new 2009 Mercedes, which of course she loves. The BMW had over 200,000 miles and the body was beginning to decay after 20 years of hard NJ weather [never garaged]. The 2004 Mercedes is garaged. She'll probably get a 2009/10. Obviously she likes German made cars.
Sligthly askew of vacuums directly but an insight into how our neighbors across the pond perceive the leadership of the UK Prime Minister in the world of goernment and business. Much is made of currency value/translations on "perceived wealth." The british pound is down 30 percent in the last 12 months and it cost a number of UK "billionaires" their claim to fame on the Forbes list while still others are tettering on the brink of falling off.
Sligthly askew of vacuums directly but an insight into how our neighbors across the pond perceive the leadership of the UK Prime Minister in the world of goernment and business. Much is made of currency value/translations on "perceived wealth." The british pound is down 30 percent in the last 12 months and it cost a number of UK "billionaire" their claim to fame on the Forbes list while still others are tettering on the brink of falling off.
Carmine D.
Hi Carmine,
My biggest lesson while I was away was the matter of shrinking money and that big numbers did not always add up to real worth. (Ever paid 60,000 drachma for a 12 ounce Coke?)
I'd never been anywhere before so when I landed in Munich, I thought two Deutschmarks for one American dollar was way cool but gave no thought to the actual value at the time. When I hit Denmark a couple of months later, I went to a bank to change about 40 of our dollars and came out with several hundred Krona. Feeling rich, I stopped at a shop where I saw a really nice pair of slacks in the window and that's when I got it. The price of the slacks in Danish money was almost as much as I had in my pocket.
That lesson learned, when I got to Turkey a good while later I followed an example I was taught by people more economically savvy than I. I would buy either more stable American dollars or Deutschmarks with the Turkish lira I was being paid and then hold onto them as long as I could. When I arrived in Turkey, 2,000 lira equalled one dollar. By the time I left the exchange rate was 7,000 lira against one dollar.
Vacuum cleaners there could average around 400,000 TL, for nothing particularly special, which was more than a lot people got paid for a month of work. I did not see a lot of new machines in private homes. In Istanbul people often went to a large bazaar at the bus station in Topkapi and bargained for "pre-owned" household goods and furniture.
I happened to be in Germany in 1971 when President Nixon [my dear Wife is a German Fraulein] closed the gold window for the dollar. Mark went from 4 to the dollar to 1 in a few short weeks. Talk about getting a reality check!
While only on the peripheral of vacuums, I suspect much of the Quarter 1 financial reports for WP and AB Electrolux can be extrapolated to the vacuum industry during the same timeframe.
WRT economic times of the current recession and big box retailers, TARGET is left with a huge bull's eye on its back according to Bill Ackman who says TARGET isn't measuring up to Wal*Mart's financial results [the new standard for the retail industry? ].
One of Wall Street's most high-profile investors is focusing his firepower on Target Corp., whose flailing performance in the recession has left it with a big bull's eye on its back.
Bloomberg News
BillAckman has been prodding Target to change strategy for years.
Hedge-fund mogul Bill Ackman has called a meeting in Manhattan Monday to introduce his slate of five dissident directors -- including himself -- that he is asking shareholders to elect May 28.
Mr. Ackman says his candidates will bring new ideas to the discount retailer and relevant expertise to a board he describes as slow to make critical decisions. "We're not talking about revolution, but evolution," he said in an interview. "We think we can make the company better."
Not long ago, the challenge would have drawn little interest; Minneapolis-based Target was a darling of investors, out-selling rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which struggled to copy Target's cheap-chic clothing and eye-catching ads.
A 58% plunge in Target's stock from September to March might make it easier for Mr. Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management to grab the attention of unhappy shareholders eager for change. Despite a recent rebound that has lifted the stock of most retailers, Target shares remain down more than 39% from their peak of about $70 in July 2007.
One weapon Mr. Ackman is deploying in the proxy battle is Wal-Mart, which has managed to post relatively robust growth despite the recession.
In past downturns, Target's sales gains have trailed Wal-Mart by a percentage point or two, but since autumn that spread has widened to up to six percentage points. Some retail analysts have pointed out that Target's business began to slow before the recession, evidence that, among other things, some competitors that copied its low-priced designer strategy might be stealing its thunder.
"Since the fourth quarter of 2007, Wal-Mart has outperformed Target on key operating metrics, including growth in retail revenues, same-store sales, and earnings per share," Mr. Ackman wrote in a May 1 letter to Target shareholders promoting his board slate. On Thursday, Wal-Mart announced its U.S. discount-store sales in April shot up by 5.9%, while Target reported an anemic 0.3% rise.
Mr. Ackman has had some success in previous board battles. In 2006, he helped convince Wendy's International Inc. to sell off its Tim Horton's doughnut and coffee chain. In 2007 he tried to oust the entire board of Ceridian Corp., a payroll company, and replace it with an alternative slate. Pershing Square agreed to a compromise that gave it four seats on the board; Ceridian later was sold to buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners and insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc.
Target is taking Mr. Ackman's proxy battle seriously. It has slammed him in a flurry of news releases and letters to shareholders, and defended its board, which includes former executives of General Mills Inc., Quaker Oats Co. and the current chair of Wells Fargo & Co., as having all the right experience to guide the company.
Reuters
Target's business began to slow before the recession, indicating that some competitors were beginning to steal its thunder, some analysts say.
Target Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel contends Mr. Ackman's bid for board seats is a ploy for short-term stock gains. The activist's proxy fight in Target, he wrote in a May 6 letter to shareholders, "is not aligned with our other shareholders."
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services recently described the battle, which Target figures will cost it more than $11 million, as "a distraction" for the retailer's management and board.
Mr. Steinhafel argues a turnaround is already under way. Target is expanding its grocery offerings to more stores, and retooling its advertising campaign to emphasize low prices. "Getting better at what we do is our No. 1 priority," Mr. Steinhafel said in an interview.
The Target strategy seems to be too little, too late to satisfy Mr. Ackman. He dedicated one of his hedge funds to Target's stock, and lost $1.6 billion of investors' money, forcing him in February to apologize for the fund's "dreadful" performance over the previous two years. Today, according to his proxy material, his funds own about 3.3% of the company's 752.3 million shares outstanding, and call options on an additional 4.5%.
After two years of prodding Target to change its business strategy, Mr. Ackman in March launched his proxy battle. His nominees include Jim Donald, former chief executive of Starbucks Corp. and a longtime supermarket executive; Richard Vague, who has run major credit-card firms; Michael Ashner, chairman of Winthrop Realty Trust, and Ronald Gilson, an expert in corporate governance who teaches at the law schools of Stanford University and Columbia University.
Last year, Mr. Ackman successfully pushed Target management to sell a stake in its credit-card portfolio, and he's still insisting it unload the rest. Target has signaled it is willing to do so when the time is right. But he wasn't able to convince Target management to spin off land it owns under its stores to create a publicly traded real-estate investment trust. Target deemed the move too costly, and said it could undermine the company's credit ratings.
How investors will respond to Mr. Ackman's proxy challenge remains to be seen. The two major firms that advise institutional investors on proxy votes, Risk Metrics Group and Proxy Governance Inc., said they will issue recommendations later this week.
But some shareholders are receptive. Wayne Kozun, manager of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which has assets of $85 billion (Canadian) and a small holding in Target, says he thinks Mr. Ackman's board candidates have a shot at succeeding.
"I just think it is good to see shareholders have more choice," said Mr. Kozun, who added that his fund has not yet decided how it will vote.
Corrections & Amplifications: One of Bill Ackman's nominees to the Target board is Richard Vague, who has run major credit-card firms. He was incorrectly called Richard Vargas in the original version of this article.
This message was modified May 12, 2009 by CarmineD
You're welcome Venson. TARGET stores has embarked on a huge expansion effort here in Las Vegas with new stores scheduled to open almost each year into the near future, including he one here just recently in North Las vegas.
But , surely it is a sign of the times, that some big box retailers which can't cut mustard [Circuit City; Linens-n-Things] will go away and others will get taken over either operationally and/or with changes in management [like TARGET with Bill Ackman and his band of hand picked Board members].
Most reports for 2008 are showing that appliance sales across the board were down about 12 percent in unit sales. That would jibe approximately with my suspicion that new vacuum sales were probably off 10 percent [in unit sales]. At 20 MILLION new full sized vacuums sold per year that would mean about 18 MILLION. Not too shabby in numbers but of course the devil is in the details. What were the revenue and profit from the sales? I suspect both wholesale and retail vacuum prices suffered along with the unit sales decline.
Some interesting facts and changes concerning retailers compiled adn released for calendar year 2008 in billions $ by Wash DC based trade group Stores Magazine in concert with London based market researchers Planet Retailer. Based on 2008 revenue. Enjoy the reading. BTW, as you may know Wal*Mart recently threw its support behind the Obama Administration's Health Care Proposal that ALL employers provide employee health care benefits and plans. After the W*M news made the headlines of the Wall Street Journal, the President announced a hasty news Conference to unveil his health plan.
Carmine D.
Department stores lose ground on annual retailers' list
Wal-Mart keeps commanding lead; Home Depot slips while Costco, Best Buy advance
By Sandra M. Jones |TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS
July 2, 2009
For a glimpse at how the retail landscape has changed since this recession began in December 2007, look no further than the annual list of the nation's largest retailers.
Department stores are shrinking. Discount chains are growing. And Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the long-standing top seed, is so far ahead of its peers that the second through seventh largest retail chains combined would still generate less annual revenue than the $405.6 billion rung up at the world's largest retailer last year.
"The economy hasn't been a losing proposition for everyone," said Susan Reda, executive editor of Stores magazine, an arm of the National Retail Federation and publisher of the annual list. "And retailers who have made it through the recession will be well-positioned to grow in the future."
The Washington, D.C.-based trade group on Wednesday released its annual list of biggest U.S. retailers. The ranking, compiled by London-based market researcher Planet Retail, is based on 2008 revenue.
Among the biggest changes from the 2007 ranking: Home Depot dropped two notches from its No. 2 spot, where it remained for much of the housing boom, as many homeowners strapped by the economic downturn put off remodeling projects and others battled with banks over mortgages to stay in their homes.
Electronics giant Best Buy Co. appeared on the top 10 for the first time, after a steady climb from No. 16 in 2000, unseating Supervalu Inc., owner of Jewel-Osco and Albertsons grocery stores, which dropped to No. 11.
Sears Holdings Corp., parent of Sears and Kmart stores, clung to the top 10, falling to ninth. The retailer has been steadily losing ground for more than a decade, according to the list. In 1992, the two stores held the second and third spots on the list and together generated more annual revenue than No. 1 Wal-Mart, according to the trade group's data. As recently as 2000, Sears ranked fourth and Kmart fifth.
Meanwhile, Lowe's rose a notch to No. 8, a big step up from its No. 14 spot in 2000. The home improvement retailer took advantage of Home Depot's misstep of cutting back staff. Home Depot's move, under former CEO Robert Nardelli, hurt customer service. Nardelli came under fire at Home Depot for his oversized pay package and management style.
Lowe's positioned itself as a cleaner, friendlier alternative to Home Depot, and that strategy helped Lowe's hold its own during the economic downturn, said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner of RSR Research, a Miami-based retail consulting firm. Still, she predicts Home Depot, which is in the midst of a turnaround under Chief Executive Frank Blake, is angling for a comeback.
"Lowe's was hitting the right note during the boom," Rosenblum said. "The question is, in the coming couple of years with so many foreclosures, it implies there is a lot of remodeling to be done. It will be interesting to see how it will play out. It's going to be a two-horse race."
Another consistent climber is Costco. The warehouse club known for upscale merchandise has overtaken Target as a place to find cool stuff on the cheap. Costco rose two notches to the No. 3 spot, behind Kroger. Target, for its part, regained its No. 5 spot, after dropping to sixth in 2007. In comparison, Costco ranked No. 9 behind Target at No. 7 in 2000.
Retail consultant Burt Flickinger III points out a common factor among the retailers climbing the ranks: managers who grew up within the company and know it inside and out.
"They all have continuity of management," said Flickinger, managing director of New York-based Strategic Resource Group. "These are people who are born and raised in the company instead of executives who are more focused on taking care of themselves than taking care of their team or their consumers.
This Peter Huber article appears in the August 24 edition of Forbes magazine. Enjoy. Takes innovation to a whole new level.
Carmine D.
Companies & Strategies
My Tax-Free Roomba
Peter Huber, 08.05.09, 06:00 PM EDT Forbes Magazine dated August 24, 2009
I see a jobless recovery every time one of my three iRobots cruises around the floors of my home. The Roomba vacuums most of the house. The Dirt Dog does the heavy lifting in the basement, garage and den. The Scooba scrubs the kitchen floor. What I want next is a mini-Scooba that gets into the tightest corners of bathrooms. Then a stair climber, a window-cleaning crawler and a hockey-puck-size scrubber of counters and sinks.
Robots are smart, tireless and effective--and over the last two years they've cut our spending on household help by 80%. My thanks to the Pentagon for helping fund development of the technology for bomb disposal and such.
In all the economic gloom many people seem to have forgotten that we live in the most extraordinarily fecund technological age in history. This ought to be a terrific time for investors. Deploying labor-saving technology requires a lot of new capital but offers big productivity payoffs to businesses that buy the right stuff. Low-skill workers, on the other hand, have much reason to stay gloomy.
People pushing vacuums and mops aren't going to keep getting smarter, cheaper, faster and more reliable, but iRobots certainly are. Mass production is slashing the cost and boosting the capabilities of high-power semiconductors and motors that control the flow of power to the wheels of hybrid cars. The electric drivetrains get their intelligence from digital microprocessors, which improve even faster. Incorporated into big robots rather than cars, these same technologies can assemble the cars themselves or anything else that's built on an assembly line. The management of robots is being automated, too, using increasingly powerful software and networks that link them horizontally across factory floors, and vertically through supply chains, which span raw materials sources to retailers.
Employment in the service sector of the economy is also vulnerable to competition from intelligent machines. Car mechanics connect a computer on the shop floor to the one under the hood and then do as the machines direct. And the mechanics fix a lot less than they used to, because friction, wear and factory defects plummet when robots machine the parts and assemble the cars. McDonald's ( MCD - news - people ) has already automated much of what it takes to move the calories from the farm to the drive-through window and will inevitably automate almost all the burger flipping and bag filling, too. Secretarial help largely disappeared from many professional lives years ago. Travel agents, sales clerks and cashiers are slipping out of lives that view shopping as a chore, not a social activity. Digital technologies are fast displacing the printers, distributors and retailers that stand between readers and publishers.
Higher-skilled service providers are next in line. Many of the hours billed by accountants melt out of my life as wired networks knit together my electronic paychecks, financial accounts and tax returns. I've hired hundreds of bright young researchers over the course of my professional life; today I get answers from Google ( GOOG - news - people ) in far less time than it would take to explain most of my questions to a live assistant. WolframAlpha, the "computational knowledge engine" for retrieving and crunching numbers and solving equations, could well emerge as the Google of the quantitative world.
Much of the time Washington seems determined to help kick the marginally competitive labor off the edge even faster. The prospect of new payroll taxes will certainly accelerate automation--I don't pay Social Security or health care taxes on my Roomba. Machines don't join unions and don't hire lawyers to pursue far-fetched claims of discrimination or job-related injuries. For shareholders and lenders, companies that invest in machines have become much safer bets than companies that invest in people. Machines don't use political muscle to seize the company's assets when businesses get into trouble.
Washington can undoubtedly find ways to suppress investment in the machines, too. Environmental edicts that jack up the price of energy--electricity especially--will suppress investment in chip fabs, Web server farms and all other energy-intensive industries. Tax laws are easily jiggered to discourage capital purchases and prop up uneconomic employment. But that kind of employment will have to be subsidized by the economic kind--which can instead flee to India or China. Washington's choice now is between a jobless recovery and no U.S. recovery at all.
Peter Huber is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and coauthor of The Bottomless Well (Basic Books, January 2005).
This message was modified Aug 11, 2009 by CarmineD
Thanks Carmine. This article is both totally cool and totally frightening.
For now at least, a good housekeeper with skills and situated in the right position can command a gross of $1,000 or more per week. An enviable income even to some college grads these days I think. Robots can't scamble an egg yet, choose a rib roast at the market or walk a kid across the street. Maybe for that area there's still a little time.
Nonetheless, the Roomba robots have improved and will improve over time. You'll note that there was no nitpickling on the author's part about deep cleaning, cyclonics, high air-filtration or weight. The issue was about getting into corners.
The real "plus point" is that you can go out and buy a device to roam your floors and never have have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you and thus be obligated with filing tax info or paying insurance premiums.
Yet the bigger picture did get me to thinking. We all can't be born Einstein so what's to be done in future for those or ourselves who are not if we mechanize to the point there's little need simple labor by all those who don't make it to the top.
I have a good friend who has twin sons and a younger boy. One of the twins, really a great kid now entering into his teens, has been extremely depressed as he has some learning disabilities and feels that he's "dumb." Of course all -- mother, father, friends, counselors -- are trying to help him through and impress upon him that he is not any less than anyone else, that he only processes information in a different way than some others. The subject of this young man came up the other day as my friend and I were talking and my immediate response was, "Well, not to worry, he can work with his hands. Lots of people do." You've shown me how wrong I may be.
Another question just raised the other day came up as another friend of mine and I were discussing the "cash-for-clunkers" thing. Per my friend, hypothetically, the rebates may help keep the auto industry afloat and save jobs or maybe even open up new jobs. I'd forgotten about the robots in use in the auto industry. They weld, they paint and do all manner of tasks priorly handle by human workers in a very precise and less expensive fashion and with little need of human hands save for programming and repair. I now have to call this guy back and ask him what exactly is to be saved.
Re: Research . . . Reply #24 Aug 11, 2009 11:47 am
Venson wrote:
Another question just raised the other day came up as another friend of mine and I were discussing the "cash-for-clunkers" thing. Per my friend, hypothetically, the rebates may help keep the auto industry afloat and save jobs or maybe even open up new jobs. I'd forgotten about the robots in use in the auto industry. They weld, they paint and do all manner of tasks priorly handle by human workers in a very precise and less expensive fashion and with little need of human hands save for programming and repair. I now have to call this guy back and ask him what exactly is to be saved.
I enjoyed the iRobot article and its nuances of meaning for the economy. I though you and others would too. I like the products and the product implications. I always have since their inception on the market/industry in October 2002. Like you I noticed the complete lack of nitty gritty mechanics about the clean up processes and procedures. Not even vacuums, technically. But they do their jobs at reasonable and affordable prices without alot of manual intervention by users.
Not to worry about your friend's son. God provides. Ask him to read the life of St. John Mary Vianney, the Cure de Ars. Almost flunked latin. Relegated to a small parish of 270 that is no bigger today than back in his day. The priests in the surrounding areas joined forces and signed a petition to the local ordinary to have St. John Mary Vianney removed from the parish. St. John Mary Vianney got wind of the petition and asked to be the first to sign it. He was a very humble man and accepted his position in life with great joy. Pope Benedict XVI has declared this year the year of the priests with St. John Mary Vianney as the patron saint. Another Saint in the making is Solanus Casey, home bred from Michigan, who suffered with a similar background as the Cure de Ars. Doing what we do daily with perfect love is what matters.
Carmine D.
This message was modified Aug 11, 2009 by CarmineD
WRT cash for clunkers, not one of my favorite government sponsored programs, it's a temporary fix. It's successful in drawing out the past/future pent up demand for new cars. How? By throwing buyers some crumbs. Once the government funds run out, then what? Back to business as normal. New auto sales will come to a screeching halt. Government bureacrats don't realize that the markets have to find their own equilibrium. Not with taxpayer bail outs and subsidies. Huge waste of time, money and used vehicles, which if recycled back into the market would provide stimulus for parts, repairs, charities, etc. Carmine's Rule: Whatever the Government's program tries to accomplish, the exact opposite results.
Whatever the Government's program tries to accomplish, the exact opposite results.
Carmine D.
In our hard pressed times, I'd be more happy if Mr. Obama took off the Santa suit and just said, "Tighten your belts and buck up" and left it at that as he sought to fix but not placate. This is not to say that I don't at least have some idea of his reasoning. There are those among the "movers and shakers" and the "haves" sorted out from the "jave nots" that you just have to try to make happy in some way, shape or form.
Nonetheless, sorry but I'm still asking for equal opportunity here.
My 20-year-old vacuum is not filtering well. Think of the health risks . . . the potential lung damage . . . the medical cost my jobless self may incur for tax payers. I'm breaking my back traveling up and down the stairs with my old blunderbuss of a Hoover!!! Why I could end up wheelchair bound any day now. . . . . My pistol-grip handheld is giving me carpal tunnel syndrome.
. . the potential lung damage . . . the medical cost my jobless self may incur for tax payers. I'm breaking my back traveling up and down the stairs with my old blunderbuss of a Hoover!!! Why I could end up wheelchair bound any day now. . . . . My pistol-grip handheld is giving me carpal tunnel syndrome.
Rebates for all I say or none.
Venson
Hi Venson: Join the masses. I had pneumonia, as I said, and at risk for it. I have 3 herniated discs in my lower back from an Army injury and collect no VA benefits for it. Boxed in the Army and in concert with a fall off a ladder and using my right hand to break the fall I have CTS. I could go on but what's the use. Wheelchair? Me? My brother had ALS for 25 years and never used one. Crawled around on his knees until he passed, up and down steps too and into and out of the car, which he couldn't close the door on because he wouldn't be able to open it with his hands. He lived life to the fullest right up to his last breath. I'd probably follow his example and do the same. Just as stubborn.
I was just putting out some examples but I am thoroughly assured that if you have that kind of stubborness that let's you tell the devil, "I don't care what you do to block my progress, I'm going on anyhow," it can't be a bad thing.
STOCKHOLM -- Appliance maker Electrolux AB reported a sharp rise in second-quarter net profit Thursday, after restructuring costs weighed on year-earlier results, and said the U.S. market was showing early signs of recovery.
Net profit jumped to 658 million Swedish kronor ($84.8 million) from 99 million kronor a year earlier, when it booked restructuring costs of 539 million kronor. Savings initiatives and lower raw-material costs helped push up its bottom line.
Higher prices for Electrolux's products and the weakness of the Swedish krona against the dollar and euro, meanwhile, helped lift revenue 7.4% to 27.48 billion kronor from 25.59 billion kronor.
The company reaped benefits from a shift in production to lower-cost countries, where it has increased efficiencies and lowered its purchasing and product costs. Electrolux launched a restructuring program in 2004 that aims to save 3 billion kronor in annual costs. In December, it said it would lay off more than 3,000 staff, or about 5% of its work force.
Electrolux, known for its vacuums, shown on display in Sweden, is seeing signs of a market bottom in North America.
The company reaped benefits from a shift in production to lower-cost countries, where it has increased efficiencies and lowered its purchasing and product costs. Electrolux launched a restructuring program in 2004 that aims to save 3 billion kronor in annual costs. In December, it said it would lay off more than 3,000 staff, or about 5% of its work force.
Most of the company's main markets for appliances continued to show a decline in the second quarter of 2009, Electrolux said.
"There are no indications of an immediate improvement in any of the group's main markets, and, therefore, market demand for appliances around the world is expected to decline further in 2009," the company said in a statement.
Still, Electrolux said it had gained market share in North America, Latin America and Australia.
"In North America we see certain early signs that we are beginning to reach the bottom," Chief Executive Hans Straaberg said in a statement.
Even though the number of refrigerators, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and other products the company delivered in North America fell 14% in the second quarter, the decline was an improvement on the 16% drop recorded in the first quarter.
Electrolux -- one of the world's largest manufacturers of household appliances after Whirlpool Corp. -- owns the Electrolux, AEG-Electrolux, Zanussi, Eureka and Frigidaire brands.
Shipments to North America have fallen for 12 consecutive quarters, and in Europe for six quarters. The two markets account for almost three-quarters of Electrolux's sales.
The Swedish appliance maker's cautiously optimistic comments on the U.S. offer further evidence that the worst of the recession in the world's biggest economy might be over. That sentiment was echoed by Finland's handset maker Nokia Corp., which Thursday said a slump in demand appeared to "bottoming out."
Investors cheered the results, despite the cautious outlook, and shares were up 9.4% in afternoon trading in Stockholm. The value of the stock has more than doubled in the past six months to trade at its highest level since October 2007.
Re: Research . . . Reply #34 Aug 18, 2009 12:25 pm
Venson wrote:
Good morning Carmine,
Wow, this is a very informative article.
Thanks.
Venson
My pleasure Venson. Gives some excellent insight from the management into the status of vacuum sales globally and what's being done to cut costs/expenses to improve the bottom line with sales/profits waning. Other companies, whether they are publicly traded like Electrolux [whose stock price has done well over the past 6 months], or not, have to do the same cost containment when faced with these economic conditions. It is a huge myth perpetrated by those who don't know better to say privately owned companies are spared the cost paring done by publicly traded ones. If you are in any business good times/bad, privately and/or publicly owned, if you are not constantly cutting excess superfluos costs and expenses [especially in prolonged bad times; read sales/profits falling year over year] then you will not be in business long.
Carmine D.
This message was modified Aug 18, 2009 by CarmineD
Consultancy Retail Forward last week forecast that 2009 holiday sales, including electronics, [read retailers like BEST BUY, Wal*Mart, SEARS HOLDINGS, and Radio Shack] would be the second worst in 42 [forty two] years.
Stephen Baker of market researcher NPD Group says that ...."The fact that with most of these products [electronics], people already have one. In this enrironment, retailers are scuffling trying to get customers to buy another." Read: Retailers will try to maintain year over year holiday sales and profits with promotions such as buy-one-get-one-free specials and pushing add-ons such as free home installation services.
BTW, Forbes released its latest top 400 USA wealthiest people. The cut off now is $950,000,000. The dollar threshold has gone down from ONE BILLION $ to make the Forbes list.
Electrolux, as in Eureka-Lux, issued 3 rd quarter 2009 financial results and forecasts for rest of the year and future. WSJ covered the story. Do a search on internet to read if interested. Banner quarter primarily due to increased sales, including vacuums, and reduced costs for raw materials and labor, due to outsourcing. For vacuums too. Remember this was the Oxy cann maker which was reluctant to make good on a warranty defect for burnt out wand contacts but finally replaced the entire unit for the customer. Tried to push the problem off on the big box retailer which sold it and an indy that repairs them. Both pushed the problem and customer back to the source: Eureka Lux.
Electrolux, as in Eureka-Lux, issued 3 rd quarter 2009 financial results and forecasts for rest of the year and future. WSJ covered the story. Do a search on internet to read if interested. Banner quarter primarily due to increased sales, including vacuums, and reduced costs for raw materials and labor, due to outsourcing. For vacuums too. Remember this was the Oxy cann maker which was reluctant to make good on a warranty defect for burnt out wand contacts but finally replaced the entire unit for the customer. Tried to push the problem off on the big box retailer which sold it and an indy that repairs them. Both pushed the problem and customer back to the source: Eureka Lux.</p><p>Carmine D.
Thanks Carmine,
You're doing so much of a better job at this than I.
Regarding the the bad design issue -- it's my assumption that had there been broader public knowledge of the wand problem "Eureka-Lux's" good news story, vacuumwise, might have been different. Do you think the problem should have warranted a recall?
Re: Research . . . Reply #39 Oct 30, 2009 10:11 am
CarmineD wrote:
Remember this was the Oxy cann maker which was reluctant to make good on a warranty defect for burnt out wand contacts but finally replaced the entire unit for the customer. Tried to push the problem off on the big box retailer which sold it and an indy that repairs them. Both pushed the problem and customer back to the source: Eureka Lux.
Carmine D.
I'm confused. Was it not the authorized warranty center that refused to repair the vacuum even though Electrolux told the customer it would be covered under warranty? If the warranty center had simply done the repair there would have been no issue. Customer is happy, warranty center gets paid. In defense of the box store, they did what they always do..sell product...in defense of Electrolux (gag) they were willing to cover the problem. The way I read it, it's the warranty center that dropped the ball (sadly) If it were up to me, I'd remove the dealer as a warranty center.
Your original quote of the story follows...
Owner paid $281 for the Oxygen from a big box retailer. Contacts failed under warranty. Owner calls Electrolux and it assures him its covered under warranty. Owner brings into an Indy, who says H-E-double hockey sticks NO WAY. Bring it back where you bought it. THE BIG BOX RIP OFF STORE. BBS says SORRY. Owner goes to Channel 7 Investigation Reports for remedy. Indy says NO WAY NO HOW I didn't sell it and I ain't warrantying it. Channel 7 goes to ELECTROLUX-EUREKA LUX who sent owner a new Oxygen. HAPPY CUSTOMER. The end until it happens again.
You may not be aware of it but the Independent doesn't currently sell Electrolux (Eureka -Lux) but J.C.Penney, Lowe's and Sears do.They are the only ones right now that I know of that are allowed to sell them. Electrolux appliances are sold at these stores . So the service center for Sears, J.C. Penney and Lowe's would be responsible.
You're doing so much of a better job at this than I.
Regarding the the bad design issue -- it's my assumption that had there been broader public knowledge of the wand problem "Eureka-Lux's" good news story, vacuumwise, might have been different. Do you think the problem should have warranted a recall?
Best,
Venson
Hello Venson:
I know you are an avid reader of the "old gray lady." I was but now prefer the WSJ. Whenever I read an article relevant to here I'll post.
WRT Electrolux and the faulty wand contacts, it does not meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for a recall, as did the Electrolux Pronto earlier this year: a potential safety and health hazard. However, as the premier brand and product line for vacuums for Eureka, the defect merits some positive proactive response by the maker to authorized dealers, indies, retailers and customers to alert them and mitigate the default especially under warranty.
You may not be aware of it but the Independent doesn't currently sell Electrolux (Eureka -Lux) but J.C.Penney, Lowe's and Sears do.They are the only ones right now that I know of that are allowed to sell them. Electrolux appliances are sold at these stores . So the service center for Sears, J.C. Penney and Lowe's would be responsible.
Re: Research . . . Reply #43 Oct 31, 2009 11:38 am
procare wrote:
Dusty,
You may not be aware of it but the Independent doesn't currently sell Electrolux (Eureka -Lux) but J.C.Penney, Lowe's and Sears do.They are the only ones right now that I know of that are allowed to sell them. Electrolux appliances are sold at these stores . So the service center for Sears, J.C. Penney and Lowe's would be responsible.
Procare
Hi Procare,
Same thing here in Canada, at least until January as I understand it. As we're a warranty center for Eureka - Lux we often do repairs to product sold at department stores that we don't sell as it's part of the agreement we signed. Makes no difference to me, I get paid by Eureka and generally gain a customer in the process.
Trebor,<BR><BR>It’s nice to see you're excepting demonstrable facts... Dyson v, Amway, Dyson v. Hoover UK. To your credit, the anti-Dyson types here would never admit or speak what you did/as you did.<BR><BR>Now the Dyson competitor comes out and demonstrable facts are nonexistent... Can you demonstrate a single suit brought by Dyson demonstrating the Carmine concocted foible? That is, Dyson is lawsuit happy and a bully?<BR><BR>Recently Sir James sued Samsung over patent infringement and won. How exactly did this $1-$1.5B Dyson bully the $9-$12b Samsung?<BR><BR>Carmine spouts and claims Dyson is lawsuit happy (never offering a bit of proof), then Venson got in line behind the Carmine concocted foible, then Retardturtle got in line behind Venson and behind the Carmine concocted foible. Now you. 1 2 cha cha cha, 3 4 cha cha cha... Come on everybody!... and do the the Carmine concocted foible dance. ...
Venson wrote Nov 1, 2009:
Thank you procare for getting us back on track. I wholeheartedly agree with your view. In most business situations, from those as simple as the everyday office environment to those as elaborate and involved as the entertainment industry, hard luck stories, could have-would have-should haves, and complaints don't usually get you far AND, as you mentioned are more a strike against the bearer than a benefit.
Whatever the line of business, it is not advisable to knock the competition and certainly not good to make trouble for them to improve your advantage. (I'm sure you're familiar with the thing about being careful in your dealings with others as you head up ladder because you never know who you'll be meeting on the way down.)
If you don't like what the competition's doing, come out with a better product or a better show. If and when you do, it says it all.
Venson
Samsung, not a big player in vacuums but certainly a player here on this Forum thanks to one poster in particular, reported 3 rd quarter 2009 financial results. It was a banner quarter. Revenue was $20.9 BILLION in US and net profit was $3.14 BILLION in US, the latter represents a tripling of year ago results AND ITS BEST QUARTERLY PROFIT EVER!
An internet search will yield the news stories and reports, if interested. The WSJ covered the reported news.
All Samsung's businesses and divisions showed profits in the 3rd but by far its largest profits came from chip business and TV business.
Stanley Tools and Black & Decker agreed to merge. Neither are huge players in vacuums but the latter's cordless hand helds are the standard by which most others target and judge the market.
News reports and coverage are available on line if interested. As usual the WSJ covered the story.
The merge is accomplished by a stock swap worth $4.5 BILLION. B&D is the larger company by sales. But Stanley is the acquiring company. The new company is called Stanley Black & Decker. Stanley has 9 of the 15 board seats. And keeps the CEO position. The companies have talked of such a deal since the 1980's on at least 8 occasions over the years. Never able to agree, primarily on the CEO job, until now. B&D petitioned Stanley with the option. It is thought because of the current economic conditions. An industry phenomenon known as retrenchment to reduce costs. Both Boards have voted and ageed to the merger. Regulatory entities are expected to agree to the deal. Jobs and costs are expected to be reduced thru economies of scale.
Talked about here before and finally done: Another mega merger: Panasonic and Sanyo, both vacuum players, but not the reason for the merge.
An internet search reveals the news if interested. As always the WSJ covered the story.
Panasonic made a $4.45 BILLION bid for Sanyo to give the Japanese companies, after the merge, 3 promising environmental businesses: solar panels, fuel cells and rechargeable batteries for hybrid and elctric vehicles. The merger is obviously a venture to grow/transform the new company into a green-enregy powerhouse. Why? The Japanese consumer-electronics makers are struggling to make money on household goods like television sets and DVD players amid intense competition from South Korean rivals.
World-wide regulatory and antitrust authorities are expected to give the 'green' light to allow the companies to go ahead with the merge. The combination of the companies will create the leader in rechargeable batteries, especially for nickel-metal hydride batteries, which are used in hybrid vehicles from Toyota, Ford, and Honda. Together Pano and Sanyo account for most of the batteries currently used in hybrid cars. It also better positions the 2 companies in the lithium-ion battery businesses, the technology expected to underpin the next wave of batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. The 2 companies account for 30 percent of the all production capacity.
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Bloomberg News ![[target wal-mart same-store sales ]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-AW053_target_NS_20090510215231.gif)
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Reuters 
