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Bear, bull, or somewhere in between — at whatever point the economy is on in its roller coaster ride of highs and lows, opportunity always exists for your cookware business. When the economy is booming, consumers are in a spending frenzy, anxious to snatch up high-end professional tools (whether they actually cook or not). Conversely, when the economy slumps, cookware still benefits because consumers are more likely to retreat to their homes instead of restaurants for their meals. Further, their purchase choices are a bit more utilitarian (cookware), as opposed to more frivolous (a designer scarf).

Across the retail spectrum — mass merchants, department stores, and home specialty retailers — cookware sales garnered an 8 percent gain from 1999 to 2000, amounting to $1.8 billion according to a report by NPD HomeTrak™. Such enthusiasm for the category is echoed by reports from manufacturers who note similar sales growth, with the greatest growth experienced at the higher end of the cookware category.

Okay, cookware sales are up, and all classes of trade are experiencing sales growth, yet you remain a bit wary about how much effort you should donate to the category. Cookware consumes a lot of shelf space, requires a significant monetary investment for inventory, and you may feel you're losing the brand battle to the mass merchants because you simply can't compete in breadth and depth of product, let alone on price.

If that describes your current situation, chances are you haven't created your own niche in the cookware market. Careful consideration of product, vendor support, and store-level marketing can help set you apart from the competition and boost your sales year-round.

Cornerstone of the Kitchen

Cookware is without a doubt the cornerstone of every kitchen — home or professional. As consumer demand for cookware climbed, the category proliferated along retail channels, leaving consumers confused and specialty retailers frustrated.

That frustration is often based on concerns about similar products being sold in competing trade channels. In addition to the issue of product sameness, specialty retailers struggle to compete on price — oftentimes with customers believing that better value can be found at "other" retail channels. This concern has led independent gourmet store owners to actively seek cookware lines that are a cut above the rest.

To help in that search, more and more manufacturers are dedicating people, product, and promotions towards making the category a successful one for specialty retailers. As manufacturers provide specialty retailers with different assortments not available everywhere, hopes are that customers will realize the differences, enabling specialty retailers to better compete with the big guys.

Defining your cookware business is an essential starting point for success. What do you stand for in cookware? Are you going to be the resource for high-end cookware? Will you provide the customer with a good, better, best assortment? Or, will you offer a very narrow assortment focusing only on one or two cookware types — copper, stainless, nonstick, etc.?

"What we do is carry cookware that I feel is of the highest quality and that performs very well," explained Mary Moore, founder and co-owner of The Cook's Warehouse in Atlanta. Moore's experience as a chef has helped her decide what to offer her customers. "We have found that our choices have defined our cookware business — high quality and professional."

It's probably safe to assume that most specialty kitchenware shop customers are food enthusiasts — they appreciate good cooking, fine dining, and have a strong interest in the culinary arts.

When attempting to provide savvy customers with high-end product lines to meet their more sophisticated demands, start with the basics and build upwards. Choose your basic assortment — offer selections in nonstick, stainless, and clad cookware categories, for example. Then, within each category, choose lines that you feel best meet the expectations of your niche. After selecting your core cookware business, add items such as cast iron, copper, or other specialty cookware items such as asparagus steamers, or even more special-purpose items like the tagine. Remember, you can't carry everything, but you must carry enough — don't become so focused that you lose customers because they feel they need to go elsewhere to access more choices.

When creating that niche, it is important to appeal to your existing customer base, keeping in mind your potential customers as well. Whatever you decide, stick to it and then set your sights on helping the consumer understand your choices as well.

"There must be a reason for every cookware choice you make," said Andrew Meisberger, vice president of Different Drummer's Kitchen headquartered in Lenox, Mass. "For cookware, as in anything we carry, we stay at the high end, and we support that in terms of breadth of assortment."

"Selling specialty cookware items is another way specialty stores can further set themselves apart from the competition," said Meisberger. "Larger stockpots, braisers, specialty roasting pans, and Dutch ovens are unique items that often the competition does not carry." Set yourself apart by having a breadth of assortment; however, if space is an issue, offer a service other channels of retail cannot or simply do not — special orders.

Within the framework of your cookware choices, open stock and set configurations should meet most consumers' needs. Sets clearly provide value, but for some consumers — the true cooking aficionado or even the cookware collector, open stock allows them to choose the appropriate cookware for specific purposes.

Better stores will maintain a balance between open stock and sets, with knowledgeable staff helping guide customers to the proper choice. "We're very successful with open stock cookware because many of our customers realize that some of the items in sets don't make sense for their needs," said Moore. "While the sets we carry are very utilitarian and allow consumers to build from there, I don't think any single company has it all," she added, stating that many sets available at mass merchants are designed to hit a price point instead of providing a collection that best suits consumers' needs in the kitchen.

The pricing advantage specialty stores have over conventional retailers is their cookware can be priced at an everyday value price — in other words, their cookware is on sale every day.

"Our philosophy is to offer customers an everyday low price," said Meisberger. "The reason we don't have sales is we don't want our customers to feel as if they aren't getting a deal unless the cookware is on sale. When making choices to sell, we stay away from cookware that is discounted in other retail channels," he added.



Brand Business

Cookware is very much a brand business, with consumer trust in a brand being one of the most compelling factors in their purchasing decisions. Cookware manufacturers have used their particular brand's cache to move into other areas of the kitchen — utensils, tools, and textiles, for example. Even the endorsements of well-known chefs have helped drive certain consumers to cookware lines. The move has gone the other way as well, with established brands in other kitchen categories now adding cookware to their product mix.

Moore finds that lesser-known brands are harder to sell. "It is definitely easier to sell to the consumer who has already been educated through advertising," she said.

Meisberger agrees to some extent, but has found success with quality brands that don't have as much name recognition. "For cookware brands that don't have high brand recognition, manufacturers have been very proactive in getting consumers to try the cookware with 'Try Me' promotions. Once they get the cookware in the consumers' hands, they will come back to us for more pieces," he said.

With branding becoming such an important part of consumer purchasing decisions, it becomes even more important for retailers to use the brand's muscle to its best potential. Highly visible gadget, cutlery, and appliance companies are catering to a market that already appreciates the quality associated with their brand names. By extending their product lines into the cookware category, manufacturers will stimulate among consumers a high degree of confidence in the product line.

"What is important to the consumer when items are branded across categories is that they have the fit, feel, and finish of the products with which they are already familiar," said one manufacturer who has made the foray into the cookware category, using 80 years of brand equity to help promotion on the consumer level. "That brand equity can help you leverage into different product categories."

For retailers, it's a win-win situation. "Retailers know that certain brands bring consumers into their store," explained one manufacturer, "and by offering a branded cookware along with the accoutrements for cooking, customers recognize the brand name immediately. The retailer can then merchandise the products together and become a total resource of a high-quality brand."



Creating Partnerships

Once you have decided what cookware niche you will develop, the next step is to find vendors who can support your needs. Manufacturers suggest retailers partner with vendors to build long-lasting relationships. To help with the partnerships, vendors are supporting independent retailers through a dedicated sales force of independent reps, extended dating programs, the encouragement of special orders, the offering of in-store fixturing, and the training of floor personnel so when the product arrives, they know how to position it and sell it. Further, sales incentive contests allow sales personnel to acquire cookware so they have their own personal experiences with what they are selling — all with a goal to partner with the retailers and help them successfully sell cookware.



Set Yourself Apart

Choosing and stocking products to fit a specific customer profile is only one part of creating your cookware niche. Imparting the value of the cookware to the consumers will help send the cookware home with them — and they'll be satisfied with their purchases.

To do that, the sales staff must be educated. High-end cookware manufacturers agree that their cookware does best when sold in formats if the sales floor personnel are well educated, as opposed to staff that simply directs the customer to Aisle Three to find the cookware.

At the core of this education is an understanding of the process in which cookware is manufactured. Is it cast, stamped, drawn, or spun? How does the base material affect the way it functions? A solid understanding of how it is made and how it performs can better help the sales staff guide your customers to proper choices.

That guidance should always begin with an understanding of how the customer cooks. "When the customer is spending this kind of money to buy high-end cookware," said Meisberger, "you need to ask questions. What are they trying to do? Do they want something that is easy to clean? Do they want their cookware to match?" After procuring answers to those questions, guide the customers to proper cookware choices. After all, they don't need a high-end copper saucepan to cook Spaghetti Os.

For those customers who are seeking cookware not available at The Cook's Warehouse, "we simply tell the consumer that we don't carry the brand they are looking for, but then move right into talking about the benefits of the cookware we do carry," she said. "Some may have their heart on a specific piece, but we ask them why and start a conversation about what they are looking for and provide them with some alternatives."

Another key to developing your cookware niche is to bring cookware off the shelves. Create eye-catching displays and hold taste-tempting and purchase-inducing demos. "It's important to have some sort of special event in the store," said one manufacturer. Cooking schools definitely help retailers boost their cookware sales, but for those without a school, they must figure out a way to feature cookware in an area of the store.

Execute interesting and exciting personable store events — events larger retail channels can't implement. Bring a focus to the category, keep it fresh by constantly doing things that make the store exciting for your customer. Offer not only great selection and value, but make consumers see the store as a social experience — a part of a community.

By assembling the pieces — breadth of assortment, special orders, everyday sale pricing, great customer service, exciting events surrounding cookware, you can carve out your own niche in the growing cookware market.