Montreal neighbors: VINTAGE STOVE AND FRIDGE - $80 (Plateau)

[ovrphil]

Paul, Phil R and anyone in the Canadian provinces, what are these?

http://montreal.craigslist.ca/app/5444887653.html

 

[114jwh]

The stove is an Inglis....you can just barely make out the brand label on the bottom left corner of the control panel. Not sure about the fridge. We did have a Viking (Eatons dept store brand) fridge when I was growing up with reversible panels like this one but it was a standard top freezer and not a side by side. It otherwise looks very similar so that would be my guess!

 

[turquoisedude]

Good eye on the fridge, James - those door handles sure look like the ones used on the Vikings.  

 

[vacerator]

3 door frige,

As for the manufacturer for Viking, etc., Whirlpool/Inglis did not make any.
Amana, nor GE/CAMCO either, so it's Frigidaire/Admiral.

 

[goatfarmer]

Very unusual how the ad shows them mounted to the wall .......

 

[114jwh]

Completely off topic here.....

But some interesting news about the Viking brand...

When Eatons went under in 2000, Sears ended up buying some of their flagship stores and the sale included the Eatons and Viking trademarks. Sears decided to relaunch these stores as Eatons in 2002 with the idea that consumers related the Eatons name as upscale and hoped to use this as a way to gain market share in this segment. It proved unsuccessful and eventually the stores were rebranded as Sears.

The Viking trademark was leased to the Viking Range Corporation in the US who were previously unable to use that branding in Canada due to Eatons ownership of the name. The lease expired a few years ago and Sears expected to be able to command big bucks to agree to renew it. The plan backfired as Viking US called their bluff and rebranded themselves as Brigade in Canada.

Left with the ownership of the Viking name, it appears Sears has started selling Viking branded merchandise over the past few months. As per their website it looks like they have GE made major appliances as well as barbeques and kitchenware.

I'm not sure I understand the strategy here. One could argue that Viking would be the more valuable name 25 years ago however Kenmore is certainly a more well recognized brand in this day and age. Completely speculating here but the only thing I can think of is perhaps Sears is preparing to sell the Kenmore name to raise cash while it's still worth something. They have been offloading their real estate over the past few years to raise cash but that is going to eventually dry up. Kenmore and Craftsman are likely some of their next most valuable assets since the demise of the Sears Card this past winter.

Ironically, one could argue that they might have possibly made a go of it in Canada by abandoning the Sears concept when trouble started a few years ago and relauching themselves as Eatons. Eatons was once the biggest retailer in Canada and almost considered a Canadian icon for many years. I'm sure that the name still resonates strongly with Canadians, probably more so than Sears does as of now. Seems like consumers either go for high end or economy - not a lot of interest in middle of the line merchandise anymore and I think this is how The Bay has made a turnaround as of late.

 

[tomturbomatic]

If there was a stupid business decision to be made, Sears has made it.