Scholtes shock UK exit

Premium appliance brand Scholtes has pulled out of the UK with immediate effect, leaving around 45-50 retailers in the lurch.

The announcement has left the industry shocked and bemused by its timing as it follows just four weeks after the opening of its Centre of Excellence on Wigmore Street in central London.

Adam Woolf, marketing director of the Indesit Company, commented: “Scholtès is pulling out of the UK and will not return for the foreseeable future.”

He added: “The company is committed to maintaining a significant investment in the built-in market by innovating in new products, unique design and advertising. However, to ensure that our customers and consumers fully benefit from our developments, we have decided to channel our investments into our high end LUCE by Hotpoint brand, which is gaining rapid momentum in the market place.

According to Woolf: "A couple of years ago when we launched Scholtes, we also brought another brand into the market place called LUCE by Hotpoint. Both these brands were brought into the market place really off the back of a time which was quite a strong economic growth. And as you know, the market has changed and is probably going to be what it is for the foreseeable future.

"We felt it was the right decision to focus our investment on the LUCE brand which is by Hotpoint, as oppose to Scholtes. What we have seen is LUCE has gained phenomenal momentum in the market place, it has really captured the kitchen studios and kitchen specialists imagination. And it is already far bigger than Scholtes."

Jason Verdi of Verdi Kitchens in Croydon is a Scholtes centre, with 12 working appliance displays, and was stunned when he found out about the appliance brand withdrawal: “We’ve invested into it quite heavily. We’ve advertised and just spend £4,000 on leaflets. I just couldn’t believe it when the rep phoned me”.

Ray cooper of Freestyle in Worthing has nine Scholtes displays across two showrooms: “We’ve cut into granite tops, Corian etc to make way for the unusual size that some of their products are. We did quite a good deal with the product, itself, but it’s the fitting of displays. The on-going cost of replacing those displays, including repairing worksurfaces, will run into thousands.” 

Kitchen retailers are dismayed about the short notice of the withdrawal.

Jason Verdi says parent company of Scholtes, the Indesit Company should have informed the retailers before the decision was taken: “Before it even happened they should have got hold of the retailers and said ‘what we’re doing is pulling out of the UK but we’re going to make it a smooth transition through. From a business point of view, I don’t know why they did it. All they say that Italy in the economic climate just pulled the plug.”

Ray Cooper said: “We’re a bit up in the air at the moment. I spoke to their business development manager and also one of the reps. I’ve been told that I’m going to get the products that I’ve already got on order but they are not sure what’s happening with the displays. It leaves us in the lurch because I’ve got products on display, which I can’t sell. I don’t know what I can do with them. I’m very disappointed at the short notice. I was notified by VZUG.”

He added: “They’ve intimated to me that they might be a deal on the table to replace it with some Hotpoint”.

But Verdi commented: “I’m half tempted just to tell them all to sod off, to be honest. We always want to work with people who want to work with us. It’s not a case of it goes on the shop floor, we get it in cheap and we sell it out 4-5 weeks later and we make a packet on the appliance. We’ve got a kitchen going in January with six of [Scholtes] pieces in.”

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