Thread Number: 12668
Another historic brandname goes away |
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Post# 221089   7/6/2007 at 13:49 (6,131 days old) by runematic (southcentral pa)   |   | |
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I guess we all could see things like this happening when WP bought Maytag. WP has now decided to end the Magic Chef line of applinaces. As of now, most MC products have been discontinued. They will now push the Estate line as the value line. It's not like the MC products were really different than the Maytag line, but it's always sad to see another American iconic brandname done away with.
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Post# 221096 , Reply# 1   7/6/2007 at 14:44 (6,131 days old) by appnut (TX)   |   | |
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Post# 221105 , Reply# 2   7/6/2007 at 17:14 (6,131 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)   |   | |
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Post# 221108 , Reply# 3   7/6/2007 at 17:40 (6,131 days old) by peteski50 (New York)   |   | |
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Post# 221122 , Reply# 5   7/6/2007 at 19:08 (6,131 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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I had a friend who restored old gas stoves. Once when I was up for a weekend he had a 1930's Magic Chef, a big 6 burner stove with side and lower ovens, short little legs that gave it the look of a dancing stove in a Betty Boop cartoon. I really tried to find that thing a home with someone I knew since I had no place to put it myself, and almost got my cousins interested. I wish my parents weren't such dyed-in-the-wool electric people. I would have talked my mom into that stove and it would still be in her kitchen. And worth way more than the '49 Westy that's in there now. Too bad that a brand that put out such a good product was dragged through the mud and has now been shoved off the cliff. All I know is, history repeats itself and at some point we're going to have multiple brands again that aren't all owned by one company. |
Post# 221177 , Reply# 8   7/7/2007 at 04:14 (6,131 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)   |   | |
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Or they wouldn't have become a well-known and loved brand to begin with. A lot of it has to do with the shift from earning a profit through value addition to making money with the capital markets, tax breaks and other financial instruments. Soon, many companies only saw their "products" as secondary. Then you add in the stupid management fads, like mentioned above. Did BMW really need to buy Rover? Did Daimler really need to buy Chrysler? Both decisions were exactly like wanting to have cancer so you can have lots more "cells" in your body. I'm not talking here about the time honored practice of buying your competition to slit their throat. Whirlpool has probably done us all a favor by putting Maytag out of our misery. Did we really need any more Amanananantags or sucking Hoovers? And after all the horrors done in the name of "traditional brand names" (Amananantags, Hoovers, Duals, AEGs, etc.) maybe it is better to die a noble death than to be used to hype shit dressed up as shinola). In the end though, after all the mergers and acquisitions, one thing remains: The Chinese. They have the patience, they focus on value addition and, don't fool yourself, the quality and the creativity (I teach young Chinese engineers; they come here to learn, they go back home after turning down jobs at Siemens and BMW)and long term orientation make them your (and our, though our quality will buy us a little time) worst danger. Oh, well, I can see the boys building that boat for me out in the harbor now. Don't forget the lashings and tinder so it'll burn brightly... |
Post# 223295 , Reply# 11   7/17/2007 at 10:58 (6,120 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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That agitator sounds a lot like the 70's "Penta-Swirl" design that Kenmore used. Aptly named, as they didn't churn things up like their vaney Norge/Signature counterparts. Comments about the corruption that pervades Russia and China are spot-on and cause for serious concern. Alas, our delusional president is busy plunging the U.S. into bankruptcy and congress is asleep at the wheel. Sounds like a perfect recipe for a big crash to me. |