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EMichels

EMichels

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I was amazed/appalled yesterday to see All-Clad selling sets of two non-stick pans for $49.99.    A new direction?

 

All-Clad have released multiple lines of cheap stuff in past couple of years. The strategy really puzzles me. In most cases it is a playbook move to start high quality/low volume and use that brand value and recognition to expand to high volume/low quality to maximize profit. However, All Clad have had such a lock on the high-end market for so long that it seems folly to burn so much of that brand equity in order to move a few more $30 non-stick anodized aluminum skillets. I suspect that there is a large portion of the current All-Clad consumer base that buys for the name. It does not take long for that market to move on when All-Clad becomes just as known for cheap skillets at HomeGoods as for the original high-quality fully clad cookware. I suspect that this is a reaction to the rapid disappearance of their traditional retail channels (Macy's, Sur la Table, etc.) and growth of the discount channel (TJ Maxx/Marshalls/HomeGoods) but this direction strikes me as more likely to kill the brand than to offer a way through the retail transition.

EMichels

EMichels

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I was amazed/appalled yesterday to see All-Clad selling sets of two non-stick pans for $49.99.    A new direction?

 

All-Clad have released multiple lines of cheap stuff in past couple of years. The strategy really puzzles me. In most cases it is a playbook move to start high quality/low volume and use that brand value and recognition to expand to high volume/low quality to maximize profit. However, All Clad have had such a lock on the high-end market for so long that it seems folly to burn so much of that brand equity in order to move a few more $30 non-stick anodized aluminum skillets. I suspect that there is a large portion of the current All-Clad consumer base that buys for the name. It does not take long for that market to move on when All-Clad becomes just as known for cheap skillets at HomeGoods as for the original high-quality fully clad cookware.

EMichels

EMichels

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I was amazed/appalled yesterday to see All-Clad selling sets of two non-stick pans for $49.99.    A new direction?

 

All-Clad have released multiple lines of cheap stuff in past couple of years. The strategy really puzzles me. While in most cases it is a playbook move to start high quality/low volume and use that brand value and recognition to expand to high volume/low quality to maximize profit. However, All Clad have had such a lock on the high-end market for so long that it seems folly to burn so much of that brand equity in order to move a few more $30 non-stick anodized aluminum skillets. I suspect that there is a large portion of the current All-Clad consumer base that buys for the name. It does not take long for that market to move on when All-Clad becomes just as known for cheap skillets at HomeGoods as for the original high-quality fully clad cookware.

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