Durabrand is a private label tradename of Walmart which was introduced in early 1999. It is nowadays available in the UK through ASDA, where it was previously known as Pacific.
Contents
Introduction
Durabrand was first started in early 1999 as a brand only made for Wal-Mart stores as a generic brand 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 stores and available in very few other stores than Wal-Mart. Like most generic brands, Durabrand is a chain of different manufacturers. Durabrand is chained with Lenoxx Sound, Alco, Funai (which would also include Emerson, Sylvania, and Symphonic), Orion, Maxell, Resonance, 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 brand (considered as an upmarket brand, offers MP3 digital audio players and plasma video displays), Target's TruTech brand; and to an extent, K-Mart's former Curtis Mathes/White-Westinghouse (in the mid-to-late 1990s) now Home Essentials 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, 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
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.