E&S joint MD Rob Sinclair said the two retailers shared strong synergies.
E&S joint MD Rob Sinclair said the two retailers shared strong synergies.

Victorian premium appliance retailer E&S Trading has acquired the three Elite Appliances showrooms. When the deal is completed in December 2014, E&S will have eight retail outlets across Melbourne and Geelong.

In a sign of the times, the official news of this acquisition was announced this morning on Twitter:

Originally founded in 1962, E&S Trading is a family-run retailer overseen by joint managing directors and brothers Rob and Mike Sinclair. A cornerstone Narta member, E&S has showrooms in Blackburn, Chadstone, Essendon, Geelong and Moorabbin. Elite Appliances was established in 1997 and has showrooms in Prahran, Abbotsford and Hawthorn.

“Elite Appliances is a premier dealer specialising in quality kitchen and laundry appliances,” Elite Appliances says on its website. “We pride ourselves in having superbly trained and knowledgeable consultants and a great reputation for before and after-sales service.

“Elite is synonymous with quality. We boast some of the world’s finest brand names including Miele, Gaggenau, Neff, Bosch, Smeg, ILVE, ASKO, AEG, Franke, Qasair, Falcon, Liebherr, Fisher & Paykel and more.”

Melbourne and Geelong: E&S outlets are marked with red and Elite Appliances stores are in green.

Whereas E&S Trading has been at the forefront of the digital retailing age, establishing a comprehensive online store backed by a regularly updated blog and substantive social media presences across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube, Elite Appliances has not been as active. Elite does not have an online sales proposition and the retailer does not appear to have invested in social media activity.

What the retail brands do have in common, however, is a commitment to premium laundry and kitchen appliances — those that still retail profitability in an economy rent with margin erosion — as well as a strong service ethic and the belief in a consultancy approach to servicing customers, rather than simply selling to them.

“Bringing the Elite Appliances group of stores into our current group seemed the most logical step for us, given the synergies that exist between the two groups and our desire to expand within Victoria,” said E&S joint managing director Rob Sinclair. “The time was right for us to expand, so we took the natural step of discussing our thoughts with Paul (Savona) and Tony (Weiss).”

Savona said he was pleased that in E&S Trading, Elite Appliances had a new owner that would retain the company’s core values and grow the business, all while providing staff with new opportunities for development.

“Tony (Weiss) and I have known Rob and Mike (Sinclair) for many years and we are both confident that they will look after the business and maintain the great relationship that we have enjoyed with customers and staff for so many years,” Savona said.

This acquisition comes only three months after the New South Wales-based Winning Group, also a Narta member, acquired Rick Hart’s Perth-based Kitchen HQ retail brand. There had been industry speculation that Winning Group CEO John Winning was interested in expanding into Victoria via acquisition and the Elite Appliances name had been mentioned in dispatches by sources close to the businesses. With Elite Appliances off the market, the incessant Winning Group expansion rumours will now switch to Melbourne’s Prestige Appliances and Spartan Electrical in South Australia.