Smallwares

Definition

The unpowered goods of a kitchen: pans, utensils, chinaware and everything filling the shelves.

Why It Matters

Smallwares are the quiet half of the business and often the profitable one. They repeat, they are ordered without a bid, they carry a margin equipment cannot, and they keep a dealer in front of a customer between projects. A dealer whose smallwares revenue has been drifting to online catalogs is losing the part of the relationship that does not depend on winning the next build. Ask for three years of smallwares gross profit by account, not in total, because the drift shows up account by account.