With consumers cutting back in 2009, housewares manufacturers are waiting to see if a bump in spending in the end of the year will help boost their business or if flat sales will be the “new up.”
About 63 percent of housewares makers told the International Housewares Association in September that they expected flat or slightly higher sales to finish out the year and were waiting to see if new orders would push business forward beyond that.
Even if consumers do not immediately begin spending more freely in 2010, some companies were hoping that stores will jump-start business.
“Retailers have run thinner inventories because of the state of the economy,” said Jarden Corp. CEO Martin Franklin in a Dec. 17 conference call. “As the economy rebounds, there will be opportunity to refill the product pipeline.”
Consumer sales dropped an average of 4.3 percent in mid-2009, but analysts expect retailers to begin seeing mild increases in spending into early 2010.
Jarden in Rye, N.Y., which makes brand items including Oster and Mr. Coffee, reflects the opportunities available to strong manufacturers as the economy picks up, said Moody's Investors Service analysts, who upgraded the firm from “stable” to “positive” in November. That rating held even as Jarden inked a deal to buy Total SA's Mapa Spontex Baby Care and Home Care business.
Tupperware Brands Corp. has seen sales grow in 2009 and forecasts 6-8 percent growth in 2010.
“We have a lot of white space before us in our established markets and substantial room to grow in our emerging markets,” said Chairman and CEO Rick Goings.
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