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From: Faure, Marin (no email)
Date: Wed Dec 01 2004 - 20:45:17 EST
A question..... What advantage is there to a store like West Marine (or
Safeway or Albertson or whoever) in shifting away from "brand" names to
"house" names?
Ron Rogers has mentioned a shift at West Marine away from New England
brand mooring lines to house brand mooring lines. Now I know that West
Marine doesn't have folks sitting around knitting mooring lines. They
have to buy them from somebody. So what do they gain by dropping an
established brand like New England and replacing it with a house brand
made by who knows who?
The only advantage I can think of is that by going to a "house" brand,
this frees them up to purchase mooring lines from a lower cost
manufacturer and then either sell them at the "name brand" price for a
higher profit or at a lower price to beat the competition. But this
begs the question, why is the "no name" mooring line cheaper for the
store to buy? It might be as simple as it's made in Sri Lanka so the
manufacturing costs are lower. Or it might be that the quality of the
material and/or workmanship is lower.
The thing I don't like about house brands is just that-- they're house
brands so I know nothing about the reputation, quality, expertise, etc.
of the company that actually makes the product. Pettit makes bottom
paints. They've made bottom paints for a long time. They may have
acquired other paint manufacturers over time, or they may have been
acquired by another company at some point, but regardless, the name
"Pettit" has been associated with marine paint research, testing, and
manufacturing for long enough to build up an impressive and consistent
reputation. So if I buy a can of Pettit Ultima SR, not only do I know
there is an established paint company behind the product, I can go to
the company's website, read the Ultima SR specs, and if I want to, I can
call a company rep to ask about the paint's application, suitability for
my particular situation, and so on. I can also count on the consistency
of the product over time.
If I buy a can of West Marine brand bottom paint (I'm making this up-- I
don't know if there is such a thing as West Marine brand bottom paint
but it serves my illustration), I don't know who actually made it, what
research and testing went into it, or who to call to really find out
about the suitability of the paint to my application. I can talk to the
West Marine store folks, but West Marine didn't make the paint so
there's probably not much they can tell me other than to repeat the
specs and directions that are on the can.
It's true that "generic" products can save me some money. But I always
wonder what compromise along the way accounts for the price difference.
______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington
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