Anderson Hardwood Floors has announced a brand restructuring that will
concentrate its top selling lines across two flagship brands — Anderson
and Virginia Vintage. At the same time, retailers will have added
marketing muscle with everything from revitalized displays to a new
retail partnership program, as well as lower pricing. The program should
be hitting stores the second week of January 2012.
While much will change, "What's not going to change is that we will
continue to design the best-selling hardwood flooring products. We are
not taking away the hand-craftsmanship that differentiates us and we are
not sacrificing our commitment to quality and service,bCrLf said Jeff
Sills, executive vice president of sales, Anderson.
With a strong focus on "Made in AmericabCrLf and pointing to its own rich
65-year heritage of leadership and innovation, Anderson is confident
this is the right move — for both its distributor and retail partners.
Sills explained, "The challenge we put on ourselves was: How do we
reinvent ourselves and how do we go to market so that we can be more
competitive and help our distributors and retailers gain market share?bCrLf
Added Scott Sandlin, vice president of hard surfaces, Shaw, "We have,
for more than four years, maintained our strong commitment to what we
feel is the number one brand in the hard surface business.bCrLf This move,
he explained, revitalizes and simplifies the Anderson brand for even
greater impact.
Gone will be the Appalachia and Biltmore brands while successful
products from both will be moved into the existing collections. Now, the
Anderson brand will more broadly based with entry-level, mid-range and
higher-end products, both smooth and hand-scraped, whereas Virginia
Vintage will be the elite, premiere brand with high style and better
product. Both collections will feature engineered as well as solid
woods.
"We've gotten a lot better on the solid side of the business and that is a big help to Anderson distributors,bCrLf said Sandlin.
Pricing is another key component, as is competition. Citing that
uncertainty remains as to the ultimate impact of the Department of
Commerce ruling on Chinese engineered products, "We have to get our
facilities and our distributors competitive regardless of what is going
on with other countries,bCrLf added Sandlin.
The result is that, "We have re-priced our line all the way through and
have streamlined to pull costs out of our operations,bCrLf said Sills. Part
of that comes from reducing by 113 the number of SKUs in the line — a
reduction of over 600 manufacturing SKUs — for more efficient factory
runs.
Distributor response was unanimous. "Essentially, we will be offering
the best of the best in these two American-made brands to simplify our
hardwood collection for our distribution partners,bCrLf said Sills.
And while it may take a lot of manpower to retrofit all the displays
currently in the field, it leaves them all better prepared to combat low
pricing from importers. "Down the road this will make it easier to
inventory, sampling expense will be more manageable and we felt we will
come out of this with the two most powerful brands in the industry,bCrLf
said Sandlin.
Anderson CEO, Don Finkell, said, "This transition to a more streamlined
offering will improve our competitiveness while adhering to the ideals
of our company.bCrLf
Anderson is also launching the Anderson Preferred Partner program
offering lower pricing, self-inspection for claims under $500, local
advertising support, lead generation, sales events, consumer discount
coupons, training materials and more. There is no volume requirement,
only that retailers adopt the new display retrofit.v
"In 2011, we launched local ad materials for the first time,bCrLf said
Mollie Surratt, Anderson director of marketing, "which has allowed us to
drive the brand at retail and consumer level. Our commitment is
stronger than ever, and we are really excited about the Anderson
Preferred Partner program which will only become more aligned and more
powerful from a marketing perspective.bCrLf
"This is a new day for Anderson,bCrLf she said.
Distributors will be participating in regional events around the country
to launch the new program, including two new products, one for each
collection. v
New to Anderson is Chestnut Hill, a 3/8-inch hickory with a toned down
hand-scraped that looks like it's been worn over time. It is the lowest
price entry level hand-scraped product.
New to Virginia Vintage will be Renaissance, a solid, sawn face product
(vs. rotary peel) that looks like a hand rubbed oil finish. The planks
will be 7 inches wide and 7 feet long. "This is a whole new look for us —
we've been able to bring the gloss luster level down to give it that
hand rubbed look with more graining that you typically get out of a
solid,bCrLf said Sills.