Durabrand
Encyclopedia
Private label
Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand. Private label goods and services are available in a wide range of industries from food to cosmetics to web hosting...
tradename of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
which was introduced in early 1999. It is nowadays available in the UK through ASDA, where it was previously known as Pacific.
Introduction
Durabrand was first started in early 1999 as a brand only made for Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
stores as a generic brand
Generic brand
Generic brands of consumer products are distinguished by the absence of a brand name. It is often inaccurate to describe these products as "lacking a brand name", as they usually are branded, albeit with either the brand of the store in which they are sold or a lesser-known brand name which may...
for electronics, but has grown to be available near-internationally (due to Wal-Mart's global reach).
Wal-Mart Germany was the first country to introduce the private label with a lineup in Consumer Electronics. Responsible for the first launch in 1999 were Uwe Bremeyer (Senior Buyer Dept. 5) and Michael Werry (Buyer Dept. 5), since 2002 Martin Schulz (Senior Buyer Dept. 5) & Frank Mades (Divisional Merchandise Manager Electronics) for Wal-Mart Germany.
The very first product launched was a 120 min Videocassette produced at RAKS in Manisa (Turkey).
The products are marked for only Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
stores and available in very few other stores than Wal-Mart. Like most generic
Generic brand
Generic brands of consumer products are distinguished by the absence of a brand name. It is often inaccurate to describe these products as "lacking a brand name", as they usually are branded, albeit with either the brand of the store in which they are sold or a lesser-known brand name which may...
brands, Durabrand is a chain of different manufacturers. Durabrand is chained with Lenoxx Sound
Lenoxx Electronics Corporation
Lenoxx Electronics Corporation was a United States distributor of electronic equipment. The brand appeared in the late 1980s as a transportable stereo model....
, Alco, Funai
Funai
Funai Electric is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. The company was founded in 1961. It owns the subsidiary Funai Corporation, Inc., established in the United States since 1991, to market and maintain Funai-licensed brands such as Sylvania, Emerson Radio,...
(which would also include Emerson, Sylvania
Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH, which is owned by Siemens AG. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH....
, and Symphonic), Orion
Orion Electric
is a Japanese consumer electronics company, and it was established in 1958 at Osaka, Japan. It is based in the city of Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Original products manufactured were transistor radios, radio cassette recorders, car stereos, and music centers...
, Maxell
Maxell
, commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company which manufactures consumer electronics. The company's notable products are batteries -- the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell" -- and recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical...
, Resonance
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...
, Initial Technology, and many other different companies. The prices of a majority of their products are often considered loss leaders.
Durabrand does have some "company rivals," despite the low prices, their products are matched up between other in-house brands like Wal-Mart's iLo
Ilo Technologies
Launched in 2004, iLo technologies is a Wal-Mart consumer electronics house brand. Wal-Mart sells many low cost, entry-level consumer electronics products under the iLo name in stores and on Walmart.com...
brand (considered as an upmarket brand, offers MP3 digital audio players and plasma video displays), Target's TruTech
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
brand; and to an extent, K-Mart's former Curtis Mathes
Curtis Mathes Corporation
Curtis Mathes Corporation is a North American electronics retailer based in Garland, Texas specializing in the sale of private label brand electronics and repair services...
/White-Westinghouse (in the mid-to-late 1990s)
White-Westinghouse
White-Westinghouse is an American home appliance brand currently used under license by trademark owner CBS Corporation. It was created in 1975 when White Consolidated Industries bought the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's appliance unit...
now Home Essentials
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
brand. Due to the fact that all of these are store brands, the stores are often competitive to get buyers to their store brand. Aside from store brands, Durabrand is matched up to Coby Electronics, Jwin, GPX, and other low-cost electronics brands. Durabrand offers audio equipment (CD players, alarm clocks, boomboxes, theater systems) and video equipment (VCRs
Videocassette recorder
The videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
, DVD players, televisions). However, it has also been lately focused on home appliances such as kitchen equipment, telephones, vacuums, and other general home appliances.
Products
- Media (CD-RCD-RA CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
, CD-RWCD-RWA CD-RW is a rewritable optical disc. It was introduced in 1997, and was known as "CD-Writable" during development. It was preceded by the CD-MO, which was never commercially released....
, DVD-RDVD-RDVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
, DVD-RWDVD-RWA DVD-RW disc is a rewritable optical disc with equal storage capacity to a DVD-R, typically 4.7 GB. The format was developed by Pioneer in November 1999 and has been approved by the DVD Forum. The smaller Mini DVD-RW holds 1.46 GB, with a diameter of 8 cm.The primary advantage of DVD-RW over...
, and blank VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tapes) - VCRsVideocassette recorderThe videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
- Home minisystems and home-theater-in-a-box systems
- BoomboxBoomboxBoombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
es: Durabrand sells a variety of boomboxes. The offerings range from an AM/FM radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
with a single-deck cassette player to models featuring CD players and some models with MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
-CD compatibility. - CD players (with and without ESPElectronic skip protectionElectronic skip protection is a memory buffer system used mainly in some portable Compact Disc players and all MiniDisc units.-Technology:...
): Durabrand has variety in portable CD players. Ranging from the basic models without anti-skip protection to models with a built in radio tuner, MP3 CD compatibility, or come supplied with a car kit - consisting of a 12 Volt DC adapter and signal-to-cassette adapter. - DVD Players: There are three different types of DVD player that Durabrand sells. One type is the component DVD player that is connects to a TV with A/V inputs (due to being a fire hazard, this product was recalled on August 20, 2009). Another design is a clamshell design portable DVD player (similar to a notebook computerLaptopA laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
). And a car DVD player "system" that can have up to two screens mounted on rear seats. - Televisions: Durabrand used to sell monochrome portable televisions (sourced from Lenoxx Electronics CorporationLenoxx Electronics CorporationLenoxx Electronics Corporation was a United States distributor of electronic equipment. The brand appeared in the late 1980s as a transportable stereo model....
) but now can only be purchased under the Lenoxx Sound name. Durabrand currently sells moderately sized color televisions (13-inch to 27-inch) manufactured by Funai ElectricFunaiFunai Electric is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. The company was founded in 1961. It owns the subsidiary Funai Corporation, Inc., established in the United States since 1991, to market and maintain Funai-licensed brands such as Sylvania, Emerson Radio,...
. - Home Appliances: Home appliances include vacuums, hand mixers, coffee makers, wine coolers and other general home equipment.
- Telephones: Basic models, models with Caller ID and answering systems.
- Car audio: speakers and sets
- Computer speakers
- Coffee makers
- Two-way radios
- Cordless Vacuum Cleaners
Brand identification
A large D is often found on the front of their products.Silver and black are the predominant colors used on their products.
Product manufacturers
- Most portable CD players and other audio equipment are currently sourced from distributor/supplier Lenoxx SoundLenoxx Electronics CorporationLenoxx Electronics Corporation was a United States distributor of electronic equipment. The brand appeared in the late 1980s as a transportable stereo model....
. - Larger stereo systems are often sourced from Alco.
- Televisions were sourced from Orion, currently sourced from Funai ElectricFunaiFunai Electric is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. The company was founded in 1961. It owns the subsidiary Funai Corporation, Inc., established in the United States since 1991, to market and maintain Funai-licensed brands such as Sylvania, Emerson Radio,...
. - Blank media currently sourced from MaxellMaxell, commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company which manufactures consumer electronics. The company's notable products are batteries -- the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell" -- and recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical...
. - Car audio currently sourced from Resonance.
- Some DVD players are sourced from Initial Technology, but some models are also sourced from Lenoxx SoundLenoxx Electronics CorporationLenoxx Electronics Corporation was a United States distributor of electronic equipment. The brand appeared in the late 1980s as a transportable stereo model....
and Venturer.