Vermont Castings up for sale

[firefighterjake]

Crazy thing is . . . around here . . . VC still has a good reputation . . . when you ask folks what brands of woodstoves do they think are really good, oftentimes VC is named . . . seems as though the 1980s vintage woodstoves left a lasting impression.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Not really.....assuming they weathered the recession (which I doubt they did very well), the idea would be to now make the $$ as the economy improved.

The market is not that great now to assume that "taking the money and running" is a good move.

Of course, companies never say "well, we failed, time to move on".....

I, and probably many here, would love to see this company survive and thrive. But for it to do so probably means private ownership - the investment houses usually don't care about much except ROI.

I disagree. There are many companies out there that buy companies, turn them around, or stabilize them, and then sell them.

This seems to be what was the case here.

 

[webbie]

I disagree. There are many companies out there that buy companies, turn them around, or stabilize them, and then sell them.

This seems to be what was the case here.

We'll see by the price - maybe!

But I don't think you could find too many industry insiders who claimed that the company was turned around......

VC is like the Giving Tree. There is nothing left except a stump to sit upon. I don't mean to say their production facilities are not capable, just that they milked the goodwill and the brand name among dealers and many customers...

It's amazing it went on this long! I remember a big meeting 20 years ago when the first investment house bought them out. I think CFM had run the company capitalization up to well north of 200 million, but then they failed.

 

[downeast]

Crazy thing is . . . around here . . . VC still has a good reputation . . . when you ask folks what brands of woodstoves do they think are really good, oftentimes VC is named . . . seems as though the 1980s vintage woodstoves left a lasting impression.

Not quite the case Jake, here and universal. Two dalers carry the line, but none of the local ( Bangor/Downeast ) dealer pros in private recommend their products.
The brand "Vermont Castings" had a good name long, long ago, as Craig and others have posted many times. After sale service, quality, dealer support are poor in the industry.

Hey Jake, you own a Jotul. Good choice, no ?

 

[firefighterjake]

Not quite the case Jake, here and universal. Two dalers carry the line, but none of the local ( Bangor/Downeast ) dealer pros in private recommend their products.
The brand "Vermont Castings" had a good name long, long ago, as Craig and others have posted many times. After sale service, quality, dealer support are poor in the industry.

Hey Jake, you own a Jotul. Good choice, no ?

Was talking about folks in the general public . . . not dealers . . . I have no idea of what the dealers think.

And yeah . . . excellent choice with the Jotul . . . it's been pretty much bullet proof and has saved me a ton of money in heating oil . . . once in awhile I am tempted to consider another woodstove (i.e. the Woodstock PH) . . . but then I come to the realization that the Oslo has done everything I've wanted it to do . . . and more . . . well maybe not more . . . it still doesn't give me back rubs.

 

[Delta-T]

if nothing else VC has populated the rest of the Hearth Industry with experienced, and professional individuals. You'd be hard pressed to find a serious player in any aspect of this industry who doesn't have at least some roots in VC. It was an incubator for the rest of the hearth industry for years. For a good read find "Family of Fire".

 

[STOVEGUY11]

Anyone heard of any new information? I heard a few weeks back that a company had looked to purchasing VC. But no deal was made. I have also heard things are not looking good for them, I can not say how accurate the information is. Does anyone have credible information?

 

[BrotherBart]

Not a peep since April.

 

[STOVEGUY11]

That's what makes me nervous. From what I have heard, the sale never happened.

 

[webbie]

I heard the sale never happened and that some stuff MAY be in the works, but on the other hand it may simply be the end....

All rumor and speculation, but some of it comes from people who are up and around the plant....

From a biz perspective, I can imagine that it would be hard to coax any value out of the company. I think they pretty much milked the golden goose dry. That is, of course, all my opinion and not based on fact. But, if no other company was able to make a profit or go of it, why would a new one?

 

[Ted Blodgett]

Anyone heard of any new information? I heard a few weeks back that a company had looked to purchasing VC. But no deal was made. I have also heard things are not looking good for them, I can not say how accurate the information is. Does anyone have credible information?

Well of course the way they run things now the workers there are the last people to know anything about what is going on....but have heard that yes the deal fell through. I haven't been able to verify a rumor that was going around the assembly plant last week but the rumor is that Riverside put VC Group into receivership. If true you would think they would have a company meeting and tell the workers but they really don't operate the way they used to when they were going strong. Apparently it's hard to get good management these days I guess. I would think that transparency about what is going on would be to their advantage, but that's just me.

 

[BrotherBart]

Receivership has to be done through the courts and would have been all over the news and a matter of public record. And pretty much always comes as a result of legal action by creditors to protect secured assets.

 

[Ted Blodgett]

Receivership has to be done through the courts and would have been all over the news and a matter of public record. And pretty much always comes as a result of legal action by creditors to protect secured assets.

That would explain why I couldn't find any kind of verification then. I hate workplace rumors!

 

[BrotherBart]

Those poor folks in Bethel and Randolph have been through so much crap for so long they never know what is coming next.

 

[begreen]

At this point they are the only ones I would like to see taking over VC foundries.

 

[Ted Blodgett]

Those poor folks in Bethel and Randolph have been through so much crap for so long they never know what is coming next.

That's the truth for sure.

 

[STOVEGUY11]

These corporations do not care about the workers or the consumers. At the end of the day its about the mighty dollar. I would like to see them go back to the basics. Get rid of the distributors. Give the line back to the dealers. Educate the dealers on their product. Make the consumer want to buy an American made product, and have pride in knowing they have done so. The lack of resources to the dealer and customer service to the consumer is mind boggling.

 

[begreen]

I would add that if they do that, drop the downdraft versions of these stoves. Concentrate on making the best low emissions, cat or cat/hybrid stoves. Focus on the original virtues that made VC famous: quality, efficiency and longevity.

 

[jharkin]

Problem is that even the cat versions operate the catalyst in downdraft. They have kept it over the years most likely in an attempt to keep it within the original outer shell footprint and reuse a lot of castings.For VC to build a proper updraft catalytic stove might take an all new design with all new castings and tooling.

 

[FyreBug]

I am not privy to any inside info, but the longer due diligence takes the more the deal doesnt look good for the investor. It could be they are into a re-negotiation phase.

 

[Augie]

These corporations do not care about the workers or the consumers. At the end of the day its about the mighty dollar. I would like to see them go back to the basics. Get rid of the distributors. Give the line back to the dealers. Educate the dealers on their product. Make the consumer want to buy an American made product, and have pride in knowing they have done so. The lack of resources to the dealer and customer service to the consumer is mind boggling.

This attitude is bad IMHO, the consumer will buy whatever is cheapest in the long run. Yea you get outliers who will only buy American but when you don't have two nickels to rub together cheapest wins. And reliable is cheap in the long run. Build a reliable product, it takes both management and workers. Cant blame one side.

You are right it will always be about the mighty dollar, without that ,who is John Gault?