Top Stories » Special Features » Kitchenware

Many of the tasks performed during meal preparation were once considered a necessary evil that resulted in an aching wrist when you peeled potatoes, frustration when you attempted to peel garlic, or the exhaustion of time and patience when you skimmed the fat off the top of a homemade soup broth.

Today, all these tasks continue to be performed, yet with much more ease. Probably the most universal appeal of gadgets is their ability to make the performance of a task more "convenient." Gadgets speak to the overall consumer trend towards wanting to save time in the kitchen.

After all, a bottle opener is a bottle opener is a bottle opener. You might wonder, "How can you make that better?" Well, through consumer suggestions and manufacturers' in-house designers, a better gadget eventually came along

Easy on the Hands

Just a few short years ago, ergonomic design became an issue in the kitchen gadget category. The resulting comfortable grips on gadget handles rejuvenated an industry and still target consumers across all ages. Such is ergonomics' appeal that it has crossed many consumer goods boundaries, its designs becoming the rage on everything from toothbrush handles to pens as they give any everyday item a more comfortable feel. These ergonomic designs continue their prevalence in the kitchen, their functional aspects rendering tasks less of a chore and less painful and their aesthetic aspects making the new handles a consumer attraction.

"At one time, we sold 60 to 70 OXO peelers a month; now, that number is down to 20 to 24 a month, but they are still our number-one selling peelers," said Paul Fricke, owner of kitchenware store Cooks' Wares in Cincinnati, Ohio. "It really is the ergonomic feature that sells this line. They basically sell themselves, especially once the customers get them into their hands. And, most of the customers are repeat customers who already have a gadget with the ergonomic handle and they're looking for something else."

In addition to the ergonomics issue, better functional design has led to better-performing gadgets. Consumers' frustration over the inability of gadgets to accomplish what they were designed to do caused many gadgets to quickly find their way into the users' drawers, oftentimes with a knife being chosen instead to perform the task.

A tremendous amount of time, energy, and money has been expended to develop a better-working garlic peeler, an instrument to frost a cupcake with greater ease, or slice and dice with little effort. The move towards better design — in both appearance and function — has led to new excitement in basic gadget segments. Take the whisk category as an example. Today, there are whisks with the bottom portion of the tine folded over slightly, thereby exerting better performance in a pan or the ability to reach in corners. Some whisks are covered with a silicone nonstick coating to prevent the user from scratching the pan's surface. Such updated designs enable the user to obtain better results than from the traditional whisk. This expansion of the category makes consumers understand the need for several different shapes of whisks, each one serving a different function.

Beyond making the gadget function better, design has commandeered the category, making consumers want to showcase gadgets. Along with their cookware and sleek, European-inspired kitchen electrics, the newest potato peelers, garlic presses, and cheese graters have become elements of design and ornamentation in the kitchen

Gadgets Galore

"Whoever dies with the most kitchen gadgets wins," reads a sign on Fricke's desk. "And I'm in the running to win." His excitement is prompted by the wide array of gadgets on the market, but also because the gadget category is a very good one for business. "Gadgets provide good turnover, great margins, and are a less-competitive category with the heavy discounters," he said. Gadgets rank in the top three categories at the store, along with cookware and cutlery.

To help make gadgets more of a success, "we carry just about everything," stated Fricke. A wall more than 40 feet long is filled with gadgets, in addition to a few other fixtures sprinkled throughout the store that display the category separately from the wall selection.

"We try to stock a variety, a little of everything," said Peggy Connors, proprietor of The Complete Kitchen, "because gadgets are what bring customers in more frequently." For that reason, the fully stocked, wide-variety gadget section has proven a driver of business.

And, because the definition of gadget is nearly all encompassing, Mary Moore, CEO of The Cooks Warehouse in Atlanta, estimates that gadgets comprise almost 50 percent of their business. "They include barware, cooking utensils, a salad spinner, just about anything that assists in preparation," she said.

At The Complete Kitchen, gadgets are displayed by brand, a strategy Connors believes helps the customer, especially if he or she is already satisfied with a particular brand. "I think it is easier for the customers to eyeball what it is they are missing," said Connors who explained that they have merchandised gadgets both ways — by brand and by category. "It's basically six of one, a half dozen of the other."

At Cooks' Wares, gadgets are displayed primarily by category — baking, kitchen tools, and utensils, and measuring devices such as thermometers, measuring cups, and kitchen scales. According to Fricke, merchandising the gadget category by use, as opposed to brand, is more helpful to the consumer, who shops for product in that manner. An exception exists though — "In a few cases, Rösle and All-Clad, we merchandise away from the other gadgets," noted Fricke. Rösle is merchandised in its own stand-alone shop area because it is slightly more expensive than the other tools. Further, "The Rösle customer is one who buys the concept, the quality, and they have the whole collection. Typically, these customers don't buy the gadgets piecemeal; instead, they buy five or six at a time," Fricke stated.

As for the All-Clad gadgets, "they're merchandised in the cookware section next to the All-Clad cookware because the cookware has a great following," said Fricke. "Because All-Clad is one of our best-selling cookware collections, our customers like to add to their collection by buying tools that go along with their cookware." While Fricke only sells the All-Clad line, other cookware manufacturers, from Cuisinart to KitchenAid, are finding the same success with kitchen tools and gadgets that are branded the same as their cookware. The Chantal line of gadgets is also sold at Cooks' Wares; however, they're merchandised along with the other gadgets and not with the cookware simply because "the look of the tools doesn't complement their cookware as well as the other line. They sell well because of their shape — the curved handle is comfortable to hold and they're priced reasonably well," he added.

It's a smidgen of both methods, by brand and by category, at The Cooks Warehouse. "We merchandise some of the branded gadgets together, like OXO, so the customer who chooses the gadget for the ergonomic handles can look for other items the company offers. But some categories like cheese graters, sieves, and strainers — items that have less of a brand recognition, we showcase by category," said Moore.

Gadgets are merchandised toward the back of the store "because typically they need less service than other kitchenware categories," said Fricke. Customers can browse and help themselves more than in any other area of the store. "But at the same time, we do try to help them make decisions," Fricke assured. "The staff is trained to explain the differences between two like products priced differently."

Occasional demonstrations are helpful. The Microplane grater, for example, is one gadget both Fricke and Connors mentioned that merited demonstration. The Le Creuset Screwpull was another — "It is so much easier to sell once the customer sees how easy it is to use," said Fricke.

Cooking schools are another arena in which customers can become acquainted with some of the more unusual gadgets. "It is a big help for customers to see how easy it is to grate cheese or lemon using the Microplane during a cooking school class," said Fricke

Gadget Guesswork

Of all the product categories sold for the kitchen, gadgets are probably the ones that need the least staff supervision. After all, most customers understand the basic use of a potato peeler, though there are times when a bit more staff and customer interaction is required.

"We get a combination of customers. Some come in and are totally knowledgeable about which gadget they need, and others ask 'What can I use?'," said Connors. "That's where we step in."

But maintaining a gadget assortment with a variety of price points and quality is what helps specialty retailers create the most success. Sometimes, customers come in for a basic, good-quality gadget; other times, they will opt for a high-quality professional item, and many times, the same customer will purchase both. "If someone is looking for a peeler, our choices run the gamut from a low-priced one at $2 to a peeler with a ceramic blade that may retail for $15," explained Fricke.

"We like to cover virtually every price point and have the biggest assortment of the category in the city. We feel we own the category, even with the competition from big box stores. They have the huge walls with a good selection, but they don't get the unusual items like we do, and they certainly don't have the staff to explain the gadgets," said Fricke.

The wide variety and a bit-of-everything mantra is also followed at The Complete Kitchen, which carries a good, better, best assortment, that is "unless the good is poor quality," said Connors. "In cases like that, we will explain to customers why we don't carry the lower-end gadget."

"Usually, the customer's justification of price is the quality," stated Connors. "They can compare the higher-priced gadget with the less expensive one and weigh that against how often they will use it. If they use an item once or twice a year, they may not opt for the higher-priced item, but if they use it day in and day out, they're more likely to pay for higher quality."

Customers who frequent The Cooks Warehouse are presented with what Moore believes to be the best in each category. "We try to choose what we feel is the best quality so we don't confuse our customer with too wide a selection in quality and price," said Moore. To that end, the customer will have a wide selection of different sieves — a single mesh, double mesh, a chinois, "but never two exactly the same," added Moore. "It becomes too confusing to the customer, so we pare down the selection for them by choosing what we feel is the best in each category." While The Cooks Warehouse's product mix is strictly high-end utilitarian products, Moore was surprised by the good sales a few impulse gadget items generated during the last holiday season. "We sold many of the cutesy spud brushes and mushroom brushes, and hundreds of little mini-measures that looked like a shot glass with measuring markings on the side. They're all little pick-up impulse items, while other gadgets are specific purchases."

Of all the gadgets available, strong sellers at retail include the Microplane, measuring devices, and high-heat resistant spatulas in various colors. "I haven't found an unpopular color in the spatulas," added Fricke. "They sell very well for us. The upper-end kitchen tools line that are of professional quality are also strong sellers."

Segments of the gadget business peak throughout the year, with baking-related gadgets enjoying stronger sales for Connors during the fourth quarter. "Wine accessories do well in the fourth quarter as well," she added. "And in spring and summer, barbecue gadgets are very popular."

The best-selling segment of the gadget category at Cooks' Wares is baking. "And many of our most unusual gadget items are in the bakeware category," said Fricke. "For example, we have a feather for decorative icing, and a flour duster. But besides the unusual, our measuring spoons and cups, scales, and basic baking accessories have proven to be the strongest of all gadget segments."

Wine and bar accessories have also done very well, according to Fricke, who attributes their spurt in sales to the millennium celebrations. "I think the millennium celebrations got more people thinking about the category and two years later, it continues to be very popular with our customers." Fricke cites wine openers ranging from $80 to $140 still enjoying strong customer interest. "Of the entire wine category, perhaps the wine openers have been doing the best volume, but there are also items such as pouring spouts, bottle corks, and champagne sealers. They're always great in the fourth quarter, but have definitely seen stronger sales all year long."

Wine gadgets were popular at The Cooks Warehouse, where the best-selling item over the past holidays was the collection of wine tags for stemware. "That gadget outsold almost every other item," said Moore.

Customers are also interested in the latest and the greatest gadget, "probably because there is always something new in the category," Connors postulated, although she did say this past holiday season there wasn't really anything new in the gadget category to offer her customers.

But, she doesn't wait for vendors to offer the latest and the greatest to build her gadget assortment. Listening to what customers are requesting has helped Connors increase her gadget business. Other than choosing the newest gadgets to showcase, many customers will come in and request an item they may not carry. "If it is available from our vendors, we'll be glad to call and get it for our customers," said Connors.

"Our specialty is special orders," explained Moore. "Our customers are always looking for unusual items and their search has definitely helped us create a better selection of gadgets

Gains with Gadgets

If there is a kitchen task to be done, most likely there is a gadget designed to help perform it. From peeling potatoes to the more esoteric molding of a chicken breast, the consumer is seeking a gadget to do the trick.

The gadget category has proven time and again a profitable one for retailers. It's one that excites customers, brings them in to find the latest and the greatest, and ultimately, makes life in the kitchen a bit easier for them and more profitable for you.