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Their multifunctionality is remarkable. From toasting, baking, and broiling to grilling, sautéing, and searing, tabletop grills, toasters, and toaster ovens have proven to customers that their presence in the kitchen is just as important as coffeemakers or even conventional ovens.

Manufacturer offerings abound, running the gamut from basic to high tech and from everyday to high fashion. From them, specialty retailers cull niche products to help drive sales of small electrics year-round.

Pop-up Profits

Åccording to the International Housewares Association's Housewares MarketWatch (Vol. 3, No. 2), 88 percent of all U.S. households own a toaster. This basic kitchen item commands a "must-have" status with most consumers, especially among those who enjoy breakfast at home. While nearly every household already owns a toaster, the opportunity for the category is not futile, as the IHA research also states that ten percent of all U.S. households will definitely or probably buy a toaster this year.

With one in ten customers seeking a toaster this year, what can you do to entice more customers to make the purchase? Essentially, you should use the same approach you employ to market other upscale products — offer a high-quality, durable, convenient-to-use, and fashionable inventory.

Customers in specialty kitchenware stores have come to expect that the products sold are of the highest quality and therefore, will last. Upscale shoppers aren't in the market to purchase toasters year in and year out. Instead, they're willing to pay slightly more for quality product with a few essential features.

Customers at Philadelphia-based Fante's kitchenware store note that they don't want to buy another toaster next year.

"They want what they buy now to hold up for several years," explained buyer Alice Harrison.

Consistently even toasting is one of the most important features consumers desire in a toaster. According to Harrison, "In addition to durability, the basic features our customers ask for in a toaster are even toasting, the ability to hold thick items like bagels or hand-cut breads, and be able to defrost."

Granma and Granpa's toaster had the basics, but today's toasters have been updated with new technology that allows consumers to use them to do nearly everything short of baking the bread. They reheat, have touch-pad controls for precision timing for different items like English muffins or bagels, and even remember favorite settings for browning.

While sophisticated technology has modernized the category, what retailers are in fact finding out from their customers is that too much sophistication is not always better or desirable.

"There are customers looking at an open price point toaster, as well as the middle price point who want quality to go with a brand name and who will pay a bit more for the toaster," explained Chris Green, divisional merchandise manager for Le Gourmet Chef, a kitchenware store based in New Jersey.

"On the other hand, there are those who want to go for a name and a highly functional showpiece to sit on their counter," added Green. "These customers are searching for high-end toasters with all the bells and whistles."

He remains skeptical as to whether these customers are really taking advantage of all those bells and whistles.

"A few of our toasters are digital," said Harrison, "but for the most part, our customers don't want a complicated toaster. They already have electrics in their kitchens that are complicated to use; they don't want another one."

Many toasters are sold on their looks and design continues to be a major factor in the toaster category.

"For us, the design of the toaster is driving the category," said Harrison. "Our customers are interested in a toaster that matches their kitchen appliances. After color, the high-tech or retro look is the most popular with our customers," she says, adding that a stainless steel model, whether it has an old-fashioned look or a sleek, modern one, continues to be popular with Fante's customers. Those models with softer European edges and streamlined looks definitely are piquing consumer interest compared to the traditional boxy shapes U.S. consumers have grown up with.

Perhaps the success of the Dualit toaster sold by Williams-Sonoma best illustrates how consumers are seeking a few basic features. Customers have been willing to pay upwards of $450 for a commercial-grade toaster with a retro look and feel, and while most consumers are not willing to pay several hundred dollars for a toaster, they do realize that to get the features, style, and design they desire, they'll most likely pay more than $19.99 for a toaster.

Toaster Ovens

Many consumers consider the toaster oven to be a glorified toaster and view it as a countertop appliance that doesn't do much more than its smaller counterpart. But for the 48 percent of households who do own a toaster oven, its versatility is quickly realized and appreciated when they toast breads and bagels, warm up pastries, reheat pizza, make tuna melts, broil a steak, or bake a potato. Throw in the convection feature and now the oven's versatility expands to rival that of a full-sized convention oven as it roasts chickens, bakes cakes, and much more.

Because customers can purchase a basic toaster oven at supermarkets or even drugstores, what specialty retailers must focus on in this category is carrying unique inventory.

Basic components that specialty retailers note are a must for all the toaster ovens they carry include bake, broil, and toast features; a timer; a crumb tray; and a thermostat. In more upscale models, consumers are seeking self-clean or continuous cleaning features, interior lights, a two-hour timer, and all that electronic digital controls have to offer. Add in a convection feature and this little oven's versatility expands exponentially.

"In the toaster oven category, we were looking for one that did a lot and did it well," explained Harrison who opted for a broiler, toaster, and convection oven all in one. "Most people don't come in looking for that specific combination; instead, they ask if we have a really good toaster oven. Then we tell them about the combination broiler/toaster/convection oven, highlighting how much more they can get in one small appliance, and they're sold. Once customers realize that it is a combination product that replaces two or three items in the kitchen, they're quick to see the benefits and make the purchase," said Harrison. "They also love the fact that it can serve as a second oven for roasting, baking, and broiling."

Although consumers are excited about the toaster oven's usefulness, retailers are challenged by the amount of space it takes to merchandise the toaster oven category.

"We have a 5,000-square-foot store that we have to merchandise by the inch," explained Green, "and the toaster oven is a big footprint item."

His limited space is one reason he doesn't overemphasize the category. Green noted Le Gourmet Chef has carried one toaster oven and occasionally another at a lower price point for specific promotional periods, such as back to school, but for the most part, they try to use their shelf space for products that generate faster turns and greater margins.

At Le Gourmet Chef, it's the "one to show and three to go" merchandising philosophy.

"As a result, the toaster category would require a six-foot-long shelf or a two-foot vertical space to get one item out," Green explained. "That doesn't come close to the margins experienced by gadgets or jams that take up the same space."

The Foreman Phenomenon

In 1995, George Foreman partnered with Salton to promote the George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Subsequently, the indoor grilling phenomenon swept the country as consumers enjoyed the health benefits of the grill coupled with its convenience. By 1999, over 10 million Foreman grills had been sold.

In 2001, 25 percent of all U.S. households owned an electric grill and five percent of those had been purchased within the past year, according to Housewares MarketWatch (Vol. 3, No. 2). Households that own an electric grill typically purchase a new grill every five years, and 12 percent of U.S. households will definitely, or probably, purchase indoor electric grills within the next year.

Since Foreman helped popularize electric tabletop grills, the category has expanded, with manufacturers placing greater emphasis on offering products in this category — from the hinged-top contact grill variety that closes much like a waffle maker does, to those in which the grills are positioned above a heat source, and oftentimes, have a reversible grill platform with the opposite side serving as a griddle.

"We had tried tabletop grills in the past, and had no luck with the category," said Green. "However, when the George Foreman grill came out, our customers basically told us we had to have it. We do a pretty good job in the category with our contact grill. This category gets tons of play. From the promotion of the Foreman grill, customers understand the concept of tabletop grilling as soon as they walk in the door."

Green notes that movement of the category is generally good, especially at gift-giving time.

"It is amazing how many units we pile up out on the floor in December. The promotional signs can be buried, but they still sell very well," Green noted.

According to Harrison, Fante's had steered clear of the tabletop grill category until this year when they found one with features and a price that met their specifications.

"Many of our customers had been coming in asking for an electric grill, but were unable to find one that offered good features and was priced right," she said.

This year, Fante's began carrying the BonJour grill and griddle because "it has a flat side and a ridged side — all you have to do is flip it over and switch the position. We like the searing feature and the fact that it is easy to store," said Harrison. She added, "People had been coming in requesting grills for a year or two, but we wanted to stay away from the models that discounters were offering because we wanted to differentiate ourselves. Also, we felt the number of models other retailers carried was too confusing for the consumer, and we felt they were sold for much more money that they were worth. We were on the hunt for one that fit our needs for quite some time."

The next step after the tabletop grills is the panini grills for the Italian-style sandwiches filled with prosciutto and Provolone that are definitely growing in popularity in the U.S. as more and more restaurants and fast-food concept stores offer them. But the panini is not the only food the versatile grill can be used for — it's also perfect for grilling meat, fish, and vegetables.

The Small Electrics Battle

As a whole, the small electrics category challenges many specialty kitchenware retailers. Margins are lower than on those of most of the products they carry, and the space required to properly merchandise small electrics is quite often prohibitive when compared to a high-margin category like kitchen tools.

Le Gourmet Chef's Green wants to control the small electrics business rather than to be controlled by it.

"A lot of retailers get in a bind feeling that they must have multiple items in the category. Instead, we look at it from a merchandising perspective, bringing that small electrics item into our own concept. We create the concept as opposed to giving small electrics its own identity," he said.

Using that concept, toasters fit into Le Gourmet Chef's breakfast section. Here, Green offers three different styles of toasters alongside other products, such as preserves, honey, teas, muffin pans, egg rings, and waffle makers — all to form a breakfast environment.

"We preselect what's good quality and demonstrate the value of these products," explained Green, "instead of bringing in a wide assortment of a specific product category."

"We offer only three styles in toasters — a basic toaster in both two- and four-slice versions, as well as one with a chrome look. The stainless chrome is doing well, as is that look in all categories."

Green notes that the strategy of keeping the category offerings narrow in all these segments — toasters, ovens, and grills — is due to the fact that consumers can purchase these categories at so many retail stores.

"The brands that we carry protect their distribution to some degree, as opposed to companies that are more promotional oriented. We want to work with vendors who will protect their specialty retailers' business," Green stated. He does note, however, that "we may bring in a toaster that hits a price point; then once it's gone, it's gone."

Because it is a basic item, not many retailers end up demonstrating toasters, opting instead to verbally impart to their customers their features and benefits. However, in the toaster oven and the tabletop grill categories, retailers are finding that visual education helps make the sale.

"Customers will pick up the grills on the spot once they realize all that they can do — and that foods taste differently when prepared on a grill as opposed to when they are sautéed," said Harrison.

However, she also notes that a storewide program that allows employees to take specific products home to try them is a big contributor to the sale of all product categories.

"Once our employees try the products themselves, they are more educated and better understand the product. As a result, they do a better job of selling the product," she said.

A good old-fashioned merchandising strategy that employs offering a few of the best in a category that meets customers' quality and design demands has helped specialty retailers find success with ovens, grills, and toasters. Adding in a bit of education plugs specialty retailers into profits.