Honest opinions about how to buy Appliances and Lighting.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

RIP JennAir (For Now)

As of today, we will no longer be carrying JennAir at Yale. The JennAir kitchen is now Frigidaire Pro...



The display pieces are in outlet...






So what happened? Jennair was very popular at this store since the 1970s and occupied the affordable luxury niche recently. They have had a couple of challenges over the last 8 years.

First, they have been completely out-marketed by Viking and Wolf at the high end, as well as Electrolux, Bosch and GE in their core market. Every one of these companies has introduced new compelling products while JennAir stuck to their dwindling downdraft segment.

Secondly, the brand has been commoditized beyond recognition. I am not critical of Whirlpool as a manufacturer. They are the best appliance factory people in the world. That's the issue. They leverage their factories, so the same product is produced for 6 different labels. There is absolutely no reason to now buy JennAir other than their new overpriced walloven...all the other products are co-branded with other brands.

For JennAir to succeed, Whirlpool needs to start from scratch and create unique products branded exclusively for JennAir. Can they? Absolutely. Will they....?

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:33 PM

    I belive they tried that a few years ago when they tried to bring the Jade brand into the fold, but to your point, it was the same product with differnt knobs and then failed.

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  2. That was when Mayag was the owner, and they deviated into odd products with bad execution. The spectacular decline of Maytag is at the heart of Whirlpools problem..

    They also treat products similarly without understanding value, brand and promise

    Hopefully, they will turn it around eventually

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  3. Anonymous3:23 PM

    Ahhhh, but it is still the only one with downdraft built into the range.

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  4. Yeah, but is a rapidly dwindling market and JennAirs does not offer induction or an updated design

    Most people can buy a componentary downdraft and cooktop with wall ovens or buy an Italian hood

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  5. Anonymous2:30 AM

    As a local developer I’m always looking at what’s new and when I saw the new Jenn-Air product at KBIS I was impressed. I think there is some great innovation there…wall ovens are superb and their new fully flush refrigerators are nearly invisible when paneled.

    I think their pro ranges still need some work but I favor the wall oven/cooktop combo anyway…they do have induction cooktops by the way.

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  6. Be careful....at $5,000 there are more recognizeable names

    And there are "invisible" refrigerators on the market presently in Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau, Miele and SubZero

    Yes, JennAir has induction...just not in their downdraft

    Good luck

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  7. Anonymous12:23 AM

    Take a look at this picture....never have I ever seen a Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau, Miele or SubZero with such little gaps.

    Just giving credit when credit is due

    http://www.appliancist.com/refrigerators/fully-flush-refrigerator-jenn-air-jf42nxfxdw.html#more

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  8. I do not inherently like/dislike anything. I simply try to tell it like it is...With that being said, there are 10 integrated refrigerators at Yale, which are flush

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  9. Marilena12:16 PM

    I finally find a slide-in convection oven that I like with the thought that its a quality product but have been consistently reading bad reviews. Can you recommend anything equivalent to the Jenn-air 30" slide-in gas downdraft range with convection? I'm still to buy so I have time to change my mind on this.

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  10. JennAir is the only company still manufacturing a downdraft...sorry

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  11. Marilena11:29 PM

    ok, forget the downdraft.... another slide-in that's convection and REASONABLY priced? When I mean reasonable, 1000-1700?

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  12. Look at the Frigidaire for reasonably priced convection slide ins

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