How much he collected is not known but Three days ago Whirlpool sold Scholtès (which had been part of Indesit since 1988) to the French company Admea (130 million euros in 2016, a specialist in the sale and relaunch of lapsed illustrious brands) without waiting any longer. that is, without even taking into account a possible relaunch of a luxury cooking brand still famous in France and Europe but lapsed for several years. Because Whirlpool intends to get rid of factories and brands that can weigh on the budgets and that do not have adequate international resonance. Sholtès, however, is not just any brand; with a turnover – it is true – that has been in clear decline for some years, around 9 million euros, but it has sensational records, it was the first to launch glass ceramic hobs, the first to present induction cooking and other innovations. Since 2005 it had no longer manufactured anything in France and its household appliances – never really followed by a constant industrial and marketing strategy – came from Italian and Polish factories. Philippe Samuel, managing director and president of Admea, declared his intention to present the new Scholtès built-in collection at the beginning of 2018, which will still be produced in Italy.
"Vittorio would not have sold it" – Admea has nonetheless expressed its intention to transfer some processes to France, even – if possible – to Amiens in that historic dryer factory that Whirlpool has recently closed. And the program presented to the international press envisages raising the turnover to 10 million within the two-year period 2018-2019 to reach 20-25 million in the period 20121-20122. Admea is actually a company specialized in buying and selling cheap but prestigious brands which, thanks to joint-ventures with Chinese manufacturers such as Midea, a global giant, are supplied with low-cost products, to then go back to being partially manufactured in France for some workings. It happened for Schneider, an illustrious consumer electronics brand, which Admea now manufactures in China but which it has begun to bring back to France. And with the Thomson brand, which had become global in the golden years of the force de frappe, (its many patents for WiFi, security, telecommunications and consumer electronics with the Matra brand) and which Admea has licensed for the telephony and small appliances sector. And resorting not only to China, but also to Algeria and Turkey. “Victor? No, he would never have done that, selling a little gem like Scholtès, one of the most famous names in Europe in the rich sector of high-end, very high-end built-in cooking... - comments bitterly a super-manager who left Indesit shortly before Whirlpool bought it and was obviously referring to the late Vittorio Merloni who had made the Marche group great.
They also return to Italy – For some years now, famous brands from closed factories have returned to the market, which had been bought on the world brand market (square no. 1 is London) by the Chinese and Japanese but never really relaunched. And in Italy there has recently been a company like Twenty, led by Marco Pannella - from Rome, who became rich in the gaming sector - which restarts under the name Selèco (it belonged to Zanussi and manufactured TVs), with the intention of reopening from June the assembly lines in the old headquarters in Pordenone. Since 2014, Twenty, which closed 2016 with a turnover of 13 million euros, has relaunched another Italian brand famous until the 80s, Magnadyne, with TVs produced in China but which it would like to bring back to Italy. Twenty, which from now on will only be called Seléco, has another important historical name in its portfolio, that of Necchi for the production of small household appliances. But the dynamic Pannella knows that only with sport can he win the battle for successful marketing and is in fact the sponsor of the brilliant Spal, back in Serie A after 49 years, of Udinese and recently also of Lazio. Admea and Twenty, now Seléco, are not the only ones to fish out illustrious brands to relaunch them. The return of old European glories is only just beginning….
Source: lacasadipaola.it
