WC Woods Declares Bankruptcy in Two Languages
Submitted by advisor on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 6:31pm.
WC Woods, U.S. and Canadian maker of upright and chest freezers branded WC Woods AND private labeled to every major appliance brand in North America, has today sought bankruptcy protection in Canada and Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United States, so says The Record of Ontario, Canada.
See The Record story
Not reported in the above article is the fact that WC Woods was sold in 2007 by the original Woods family to the investment arm of Mitsubishi, Red Diamond Capital. See our December 2007 story.
Though WC Woods blamed the economy, could the actual problem have been the lack of product creativity at Woods? The dirth of excitement, ho hum boring same-old same-old? What was WC Woods doing when we were writing this about Haier freezers in 2002?
(Haier "Fantastic Retro Style Freezer" 2002)
How many reports have we read of freezer sales being the ONLY growth segment during this recession? COSCO sales are up, and that food needs to go somewhere. How could WC Woods declare bankruptcy during this time of freezer plenty?
woods
Mitsubishi, Red Diamond in my opinion is smart, file now and get rid of old bagage, then relaunch with new marketing, stronger reps and new programs. There will always be a need for good quality freezers... woods built is the best bar none...This simply is a manouver for Red...
Why Freezers are not a Surprise in this Economy ...
Simply said, when you see the stock of people like Costco & BJ's going "soft" it is no surprise that people are not filling their freezers like before ... maybe because they are short sighted, or maybe because they simply don't have the funds to do so !!! I know that when I have "a little extra" I make purchases for my freezer for that "rainy day" but I have to admit that there is more empty space than ever from time-to-time !!!
So, the natural victim, a step or two removed, is the Freezer Manufacturer ... unfortunately I don't think this will be the last niche market manufacturer to fail ... Electronics have taken it on the chin because they are victims of dwindling (or non-existent) disposable/discretionary income ... the question is "Who is next ???"
Since the first of the year I have noticed that manufacturers have reduced inventories to the point where I've lost a few sales because there was no stock, or the manufacturer was waiting for a "full load" to ship ... all things we have been unaccustomed to but now must factor in to our business model ... so the point about constantly needing to re-invent our business model is more important than ever ... reacting to daily changes is simply not enough ... and I fear, unfortunately, that the end is nowhere near !!!