More on Waterford and Wedgwood

Fellow appraiser Richard Merritt sent me this article from the opinion section of the NY Times on the failure of Waterford. If is written by Judith Flanders, author of Inside the Victorian Home, gives good some great insight into why the company has failed as well as some historical background. I love the closing sentence, Twenty-first century Wedgwood has been more old-fashioned than 18th-century Wedgwood, and that has been its undoing.

As appraisers following trends is so important in valuation, especially in the economy today. By not following current market conditions, valuations can be at the least mildly misleading, and at the worst, harmful. Likewise, manufacturers must stay in tune with what the market place demands, and according to Ms. Flanders, Waterford/Wedgwood has failed terribly.

Flanders states The company is in trouble because it has long forgotten the lessons of one of its founders: Josiah Wedgwood, among the greatest and most innovative retailers the world has ever seen. If the modern operators of Wedgwood, which was merged with Waterford Glass in 1986, had shown a tenth of Josiah’s intuitive grasp, his flair, his zest for selling, it would not now be dying.Today when most people think of Wedgwood, they think of bridal registries and those dusty-looking blue-and-white jasperware plates that no one knows what to do with. But things were once very different.

Flanders continues Today, in the Waterford Wedgwood showroom here on Piccadilly the various lines of china are piled up bargain-basement style. While the product is still good, the marketing is dreadful. The company has been both profligate and miserly — it has hired hot designers, but then has scrimped by not spending money to change the molds; as a result, contemporary design is crudely imposed on 100-year-old shapes. Indeed, the company has returned to Josiah’s “diffusion” principle — offering cheaper lines for different segments of the population — but has failed to advertise this fact.

To read the NY Times OP/ED piece click HERE.