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> Sunbeam should literally do a Kickstarter to get the marketing going. Sunbeam products are now Chinesium trash, the brand was sold off long ago. At my last

> Sunbeam should literally do a Kickstarter to get the marketing going. Sunbeam products are now Chinesium trash, the brand was sold off long ago. At my last startup we learned this the hard way after buying a Sunbeam set of knives in a butcher block for the office kitchen. Every single knife was dull and serrated identically, despite presenting in the Amazon ad as a comprehensive set of knives.

dredmorbius 5y ago
You can thank Chainsaw Al for that. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chainsaw_Al https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chainsaw_Al https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/obituaries/al-dunlap-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/obituaries/al-dunlap-dead...
- consp 5y ago
  That wrap-sheet reads like he should have been in jail for ruining so many peoples lives. White-collar crime pays, but we all knew that already.
- pengaru 5y ago
  It's not like "Chainsaw Al" inherited a pristine Sunbeam and ran it into the ground: "Allegheny's four principal divisions, including Sunbeam, went into decline through the late-1980s. Since Sunbeam-Oster was one of the most important divisions, responsible for nearly half of all sales, the stockholders were very concerned about the leadership. In 1986, the stockholders accused the Chairman and CEO, Robert Buckley of mis-appropriating funds.[10][11] Buckley's successor, Oliver Travers, downsized considerably and by 1988, the company was essentially just Sunbeam and Oster. The decline continued aided by the stock market crash of October 1987 and Allegheny filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[12] In the fall of 1989 an investment group called Japonica Partners[13] purchased the remains of Allegheny for $250 million ($521.9 million today) in a hostile takeover.[14] The company was renamed Sunbeam-Oster Company, Inc. At this point the business was then divided into four divisions: Outdoor Products, Household Products, Specialty Products, and International Sales. The company headquarters were moved again from Pittsburgh to Providence, Rhode Island and then finally to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[15] By late 1991, Sunbeam-Oster's sales had increased 7% enabling it to make the Fortune 500 list." [0] It sounds to me like he was brought in to be the axe man, and he obliged, while adding some fraudulent flair to the mix. One could argue the fraud was just a best-effort attempt to turn the sinking ship around, with flagrant disregard for the law. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Products#Growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Products#Growth

dredmorbius 5y ago

You can thank Chainsaw Al for that. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chainsaw_Al https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chainsaw_Al https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/obituaries/al-dunlap-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/obituaries/al-dunlap-dead...

consp 5y ago
That wrap-sheet reads like he should have been in jail for ruining so many peoples lives. White-collar crime pays, but we all knew that already.
pengaru 5y ago
It's not like "Chainsaw Al" inherited a pristine Sunbeam and ran it into the ground: "Allegheny's four principal divisions, including Sunbeam, went into decline through the late-1980s. Since Sunbeam-Oster was one of the most important divisions, responsible for nearly half of all sales, the stockholders were very concerned about the leadership. In 1986, the stockholders accused the Chairman and CEO, Robert Buckley of mis-appropriating funds.[10][11] Buckley's successor, Oliver Travers, downsized considerably and by 1988, the company was essentially just Sunbeam and Oster. The decline continued aided by the stock market crash of October 1987 and Allegheny filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[12] In the fall of 1989 an investment group called Japonica Partners[13] purchased the remains of Allegheny for $250 million ($521.9 million today) in a hostile takeover.[14] The company was renamed Sunbeam-Oster Company, Inc. At this point the business was then divided into four divisions: Outdoor Products, Household Products, Specialty Products, and International Sales. The company headquarters were moved again from Pittsburgh to Providence, Rhode Island and then finally to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[15] By late 1991, Sunbeam-Oster's sales had increased 7% enabling it to make the Fortune 500 list." [0] It sounds to me like he was brought in to be the axe man, and he obliged, while adding some fraudulent flair to the mix. One could argue the fraud was just a best-effort attempt to turn the sinking ship around, with flagrant disregard for the law. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Products#Growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Products#Growth