Snapper at Sears?

[MASTERMOWER]

http://sears.snapper.com/

Do I have this right? Snapper left Hell-Mart because they didn't think their product should be cheapened up and available for purchase away from independent dealers.....but now they're gonna be selling at sears? I wonder if K-Mart will have a few models available as well?

[Scaper-S2k]

Sears sells plenty of good product names. I don't see much wrong with Snapper being sold there.

[Scott]

Sears is not Walmart,,, by far not walmart.
Yeah I agree, Sears carries a lot of fine products;
Kitchen Aid, LG, Sony, Panasonic, CRAFTSMAN, Milwaukee, Michelins, etc...

[Sammy]

Old news. ..... I belive B&S owns Snapper now.
Previous owner pulled it from WW.

[MASTERMOWER]

Briggs and Stratton has owned Simplicity and Snapper since 2004.

BSPPG product lines are marketed under various brands including Briggs & Stratton, Ferris, Giant Vac, Murray, Simplicity, and Snapper.

I swear I saw a MTD PRO ztr and 32" WB re-badged w/ the Crapsman name at the Topeka Sears this past Saturday(I wish I had my camera). I thought that was a little interesting. Could re-badged Snapper Pro units end up at Sears?

Is this whole Snapper at Sears move good news or bad news for independent dealers?

[GrassMaster]

Briggs and Stratton owns Simplicity and Snapper.

Yes Sir, B&S owns them now.

Is this whole Snapper at Sears move good news or bad news for independent dealers?

It's not good for the Independents, but it's happening with a lot of the Biggies, like Echo, Honda & others.

They have to be able to move more units to keep the price down & there's a lot of people that will buy it just because Sears has it.

10 years plus ago all the big OEM's said they would not go mass merchant-retail. But they have, yes it hurts us but it's better than them being forced out of business by not having certain mowers at a certain price point.

Some of this equipment if the price just goes up say 10%, it could easily knock them out of 20% or more in sales.

There was a recall recently on a spring on the Honda mowers & it generated much needed revenue due to people getting other work performed while it was in the shop. We received a lot of new customers that purchased their Honda from Home Depot & they will be back. One guy brought in his Honda, a trimmer & a tiller. Besides the warranty for the spring, he left another $200 plus for repairs, tuneups & carb job.

Me personally, if I have a choice of the two, I would rather get plenty of repairs than trying to depend on sales of equipment. Both are better, so I take what I can get!

[MASTERMOWER]

It's not good for the Independents, but it's happening with a lot of the Biggies, like Echo, Honda & others.

Thank you Sir.....That is the point of this thread.

Found this online..

Michael Lukco contacted me and requested if I could comment on Snapper equipment going to the mass. As many of you remember, in 1999 when Simplicity purchased Snapper we made the decision to remove the product from Wal-mart and I became known as " The man that said no to Wal-mart". Well here we are a few years later and I no longer am in the industry but keep a close eye on what is happening through my former friends and employees. A decision has been made by Briggs & Stratton to put riders, walks and a Z branded as Snapper into the Sears stores. The Simplicity group of companies that included Snapper,Ferris and Giant Vac always tried to be very dealer friendly. Our position was that if we didn't help the dealer be successful we were doomed to fail. By selling direct to the dealer we kept a open channel of comunication.Our goal was to give the dealers high quality differentited equipment to help them compete againest the mass. Would I have done what Briggs did if I was still president? I honestly can't answer that.What I can tell you if they felt the need to go to a mass channel Sears was probably the least problematic for the dealers. Here is why I say that. First Sears has a service arm and therefore they are not expecting the dealer to repair product purchased from someone else. The second reason is that Sears tends to be a bit higher priced since they have a higher cost structure. And lastly, Sears advertises this category almost every week and it may help build the brand. I thought Briggs made a hugh mistake by not using the Brett Farve connection the last few years. It sounds like they will now use him for the Sears outlets. What can the dealers so about this situation. I have a number of suggestions. First of all, call Vince Shiely 414-259-5333 and express your displeasure. He is the head of this area. Your calling would not change his mind but it may make you feel better. More importantly, try go get him to commit to including a tag line on any Farve/Snapper/Sears television advertising to tell people they can get the product at either sears or a local dealer and a web site to find the local dealer. If I were a dealer I would not carry the same products that are to be carrried by Sears. I would stick with the higher priced models where you can make a buck. Also, call your local Sears store and get some information that you can use in the selling process. For example, Does Sears have a set-up charge? Do they have a delivery charge? Do they sell extended Warranty? For how much? What is the Sears cost for an annual tune up? I guarantee you can compete successfully against Sears. Just don't try to sell the same models at their prices. As always, you have a lot of things to sell against the mass. Your industry knowledge, servicing what you sell, local family owned business and a good selection of upscale products. I still believe Briggs can remain a very dealer friendly company but they may need a call from you to express what you need them to do for you. Good luck. Jim Wier