Nationwide Buying Group Throws Support Behind Sansui Brand
LAS VEGAS -- Nationwide Marketing Group is throwing its support behind derivative entry-level TV models after having also tested the waters a year ago with a private-label brand, Douglas Schatz, Nationwide vice president-electronics merchandising, told us.
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Orion Electric’s Sansui brand will supply Nationwide with 32-, 40-, and 50-inch entry-level models this year, the same as they did in 2012 in giving members a brand to compete with at the low end. The Nationwide meeting last year also featured Eternal Asia, which pitched members on the private-label Allegra brand for TVs. In the end, Sansui’s service and support convinced Nationwide to take the derivative path it also uses in other categories including bedding and furniture, Nationwide officials said. Nationwide retailers also are major supporters of the Haier brand, although the Chinese manufacturer doesn’t yet produce derivative product for the group, dealers said. “We want to make sure that we are providing a product that has the required service and support, because saving a dollar or two and dealing with the by-products of that isn’t worth it,” Schatz said.
The Sansui TVs have proven to be a good option for consumers not willing to pay more for a name brand and “looking for the best” of the lesser-known suppliers, said Jeff Blumenthal, president of Nationwide member B&B Appliance, which has carried Sansui TVs for 10 years. Sansui’s largest retailers, in addition to Nationwide, include B.J.’s Wholesale Club, Walmart and Shopko. “Personally I don’t think Sansui is enough of a player to have a need for derivatives, but for me it’s the best entry-level product available,” Blumenthal said.
The derivative strategy comes as Nationwide seeks to diversify members’ assortment of products into such categories as soundbars, which are forecast to produce $1 billion in U.S. retail sales this year, said Jeannette Howe, executive director of Specialty Electronics Nationwide, the 485-member Nationwide-affiliated buying group. Speaker supplier Paradigm pitched dealers on its new soundbar during a meeting Monday morning. Home automation is another source of diversification, and Key Digital also is demonstrating its new Compass home automation system at the Nationwide show.
The new categories will help reduce Nationwide dealers’ reliance on TVs to drive its CE business. Nationwide’s CE sales rose by $500 million in 2012 to $3.5 billion, as the organization benefitted from the addition of the Canadian buying group Cantrex, which Nationwide acquired last year. Overall, Nationwide’s members generated $14 billion in total sales last year with half coming from major appliances, said Jeff Knock, Nationwide’s senior vice president-appliances. Furniture posted sales of $3.5 billion as the number of Nationwide furniture dealers grew to 1,600. Monster Cable returned to Nationwide, a year after Nationwide landed a group program with Monster. Earlier, Nationwide parted with Beats Electronics on a distribution agreement. Monster in 2012 provided Nationwide dealers with headphone displays that got many of them into the business. Others mounting headphone demos at the Nationwide show include Paradigm and Klipsch, both of which typify audio suppliers that have made strong pushes into the headphone category.