Whirlpool Corp. will become the exclusive supplier of home appliances for Dan Ryan Builders, effective May 1 of this year.
Under the multiyear agreement, the company will furnish its homes exclusively with Whirlpool or KitchenAid branded appliances, more than 80 percent of which are made in the U.S., Whirlpool announced this week.
China’s Haier Group, a white goods giant, on Thursday started operating its largest overseas research and development center in Saitama Prefecture in Japan.
The R&D center will focus on fundamental research, new product planning and key technology design over white goods led by refrigerator, according to the center’s chief Shi Zhenyu.
Shi said the center will continue to attract Japanese and talents from other countries on the field, in a bid to develop more popular white goods to meet consumer demand, adding the center will also put an eye on developing smart and network home appliances.
Kiyoshi Ueda, governor of the Saitama Prefecture, welcomed the opening of Haier’s largest R&D center and said the center will contribute to local economy and development through providing more jobs.
Haier invested some 7 billion yen (about 58.11 million US dollars) in the center, with 200 researchers working in the center.
Whirlpool, has returned to Turkey with Indesit. The Assistant CEO of Whirpool, Marc Bitzer, announced that new investments will be made in Turkey and said that Turkey was a key country in a region with a population over 200 million. The American brand purchased the Italian domestic appliance producer Indesit last year. Whirlpool is now planning to reach the Middle Eastern and Central Asian markets via Turkey.
Gorenje, the home appliances group, made a net profit for 2014 of EUR 1.2m, up from a EUR 25m loss in the year before, on sales that inched up 0.4% to EUR 1.24bn, the company said Friday.
Amica’s first solus showroom opened during January 2015 within the head office building of one of its partner distributors, Portway.
The new showroom is a dedicated, branded space displaying a range of freestanding and built-in appliances from all categories.
Simon Freear, country manager for Amica in the UK explains. “We are delighted to be working with our key distribution partners to create stunning showrooms in strategic positions geographically. This first facility is already proving a sound investment with visits from kitchen specialists, electrical retailers and those from the contracts market.”
Amica will be making full use of the new facility by running training sessions, creating new product videos and digital content for websites and blogs. Many of the appliances are live for cooking demonstrations and photography.
Consumers are also welcome to visit the showroom by appointment.
Appliance brand Bauknecht, is now exclusive to in-toto in the UK.
Turkish electronics and domestic appliances maker Vestel said on Wednesday it expected 2014 sales to have grown more than 20 percent to over 7.5 billion lira ($3.18 billion).
