Electric housewares No. 1 . r R

PJ"'"?#iiilJ':'f'l;. utilitarian."

"Eliminate the luxury items."

"Stay away from high-ticket merchandise."

"Stress the practical."

Operating in this plethora of advice, a housewares manager is often confused about what to order for his department. Customer preferences should certainly be his guide, but how does he predict their tastes and wants?

Figures released from a survey conducted by Bee Angell & Associates, Chicago, Il, for the National Housewares Manufacturers Association, should be of help to a buyer who needs to understand the seemingly unpredictable whims of the buying public.

The number one selling category reported was electric housewares with a high figure of 3390. Second with l29o was merchandise used for cooking and baking. Plastic ware captured 6s/o of the sales while

PRODUCT CATEGORY

Decorative Acccssories

Serving & Buffet Products & Accessorics

Electric Housewares

Cleaning Products & Accesscies

Cook & Bakeware

Outdoor Products & Accesroric

Kitchen Tools & Gadgcts

Plastic Ware

Furniturc Bath & Closct Acccssics decorative accessories had 1090. Serving buffet products and accessories including dinner ware, cutlery and flatware were 7qo. Outdoor products and accessories ranked at 5s/0. Kitchen tools and gadgets claimed 490. Furniture sales were 6q0 with bath and closet sales at 490. Cleaning products and accessories only claimed 390, supporting a theory that these items are usudly purchased at the grocery store. All the other miscellaneous items found in the housewares section accounted for the remaining l09o of the total 10090.

Color preferences as revealed by the survey are similar to those reported in earlier years. For kitchen appliances and accessories almond ranked high at 420/0, the highest rating achieved by a kitchen color since the popularity of avocado in the early '70s. White was the second choice with brown and yellow at the low end.

However, brown edged out al- mond and white which tied in salcs of serving and buffet products and accessories. Also rans with scores of 6990 were yellow, earth tones and natural,/wood. For outdoor products and accessories tastes changed with ye[ow coming in first followed by Br@n, white, brown, black and red. White wasthe first choice in bath and closet accessories with brown close behind. Blue ranked third with pastels and almond next.

There seems to be no explanation for the lack of consistency in color choices. For example, predictions show almond due to lose a few points to white in the sale of kitchen ap pliances and accessories in the future with brown and yellow still holding weak positions. On the other hand, white is forecast to edge out brown in sales of serving and buffet products and accessories while natural/wood takes third place leaving almond, earth tones and yellow in the rear.

For outdoor products and accessories white is projected to moye into second place behind yellow. Green and brown will tie while black and red lag behind. White also is ex-

Story at a Glance Flgures can help r

housewares managpr sod out contuslng advlce . . electdc goods No. 1. . . rlmond lsa top color.

pected to dominate in bath and closet accessories with pastels gaining position over blue, brown and almond.

C0L0R PREFEREI{GES shov white and almond in second and third place in sales ol serving, buffet products and accessories including dinnerware. Brown is No. 1 choice.

After studying these figures, a housewares manager probably stands a better chance of predicting the market. Toasters, coffce pots, mixers, irons, crockpots, etcetera no doubt will continue to be considered essential, purchased when replacement is necessary or bought as gifts for those starting a new household with an empty kitchen. The utensils used for the cooking and baking necessary for preparing meals probably will continue to be steady sellers.