RE: Rowenta rant........ It's not your trusty old Rowenta anymore

Rowenta isn't "Rowenta" anymore, nor has it been for some time. The French company (Group SEB) who bought Rowenta started out in 1926 making cheap stamped out tin cookware. They marketed their first electric appliance in

1962, a coffee maker. In 1967 they invented and marketed the first odorless electric deep fat fryer. In 1968 they bought out the American T-Fal Co. and Scoville of America in 1969. Marketing and European acquisitions of domestic goods companies went very well and they went public on the French stock exchange in 1975. They acquired Rowenta and all its subsidiary companies in 1988 and established the manufacturing facilities in Mexico. They also moved the procurement division to Hong Kong. In 1996 they established joint commercial and industrial facilities in Shanghai. Between 1996 and 1998 they scooped up numerous appliance and premium cookware companies in South America through joint ventures with Chinese companies. In 1999 they did a hostile take over and eliminated the joint ventures in China. They now own these companies and their facilities. They took over Moulinex and Krups in 2002 and these are now manufactured in subsidiary companies in Thailand and Taiwan. In 2004 they acquired All-Clad which is no longer made in Switzerland but in Singapore and Malaysia. In 2006 they acquired Mirro and WearEver.

Groupe SEB operates in more than 120 countries through its prestige brand names - All-Clad, Arno, Calor, Krups, Lagostina, Mirro, Moulinex, Panex, Rowenta, Samurai, Seb, Tefal and WearEver. They are also supplying parts for production of Conair appliances. In 2000 Group SEB started to push marketing instead of research and development. They made a major investment in designing a computer engineering program that allows them to design new appliances of all kinds that can interchange actual internal working parts that will fit into all "new and improved" marketable window dressed appliances. These parts are massed produced with more cost effective labor and materials (read "cheap and lesser quality") and their goal is to be selling 6 appliances per second world wide in 2008, according to their company newsletter. (This is published out of Lyon and I had to call a friend of mine to translate it for me this evening. He's demanded a Chocolate Silk pie in payment for this service.)

So, those of you who have an older and very wonderful, functioning Rowenta should guard it with your life and don't expect it to be repaired under the warrantee's back to "like new" condition. The quality of the internal workings are no longer available. Those of you who still think Rowenta is the best iron on the current market, IMVHO, should save your money and read closely the consumer reports. I'm still using my wonderful, works like a charm, Proctor Silex steam/dry iron I got about 40 years ago and you couldn't pry that darling out of my hands. I have friends who have older Rowentas and they swear by them, I have friends that have new Rowentas and they swear *at* them. The name brand of Rowenta has gone the same way as many name brand sewing machines.......they look good in the ads, the sales people talk a good game but they are riding high on past reputation.

Just my 2 centimes worth,

Val

Reply to
Val
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That is some research Val. I always enjoy reading your posts.

Reply to
KJ

Aha . . . Well! . . . @#$! . . . my Rowentas are maybe 3 years old, both made in Germany. I will tell the gators to be alert. I'll mention that Rowenta bandits taste like chicken. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

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