Sur La Table launches private label cookware collection

2022.01.27

Dive Brief:

Sur La Table announced this week it's launching an updated line of private label cookware, which will pair with the retailer's existing assortment, including tools, bakeware, food and tableware. 

The private label cookware line — which features a variety of materials like enameled cast iron, five-ply stainless steel and ceramic nonstick — will be available at Sur La Table stores and on its website, according to a company press release emailed to Retail Dive.

The launch coincides with Sur La Table's 50th anniversary, and the retailer plans for new initiatives, partnerships and launches throughout 2022.

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Dive Insight:

About a year and a half after a joint venture by Marquee Brands and CSC Generation bought Sur La Table out of bankruptcy, the retailer has its sights set on new launches to celebrate its 50th year in business.

Sur La Table first opened in 1972 in Seattle's Pikes Place Market. By fiscal 2018, the retailer grew to have an $80 million e-commerce business (compared to a $230 million store business) and a robust cooking class business, which accounted for $35 million in revenue that year.

But the pandemic forced its stores to temporarily shutter and suspended its cooking class operations. In July 2020, the retailer filed for Chapter 11 with plans to sell itself and pare down its store footprint.

A month later, the Marquee Brands and CSC Generation joint venture bought Sur La Table for $88.9 million and planned to shutter 50 of the company's stores.

Several retailers selling home goods benefited at the onset of the pandemic as consumers' lives centered more around the home. And brands selling cookware and bakeware-related products also experienced a boost as consumers took to their kitchens more.

The new private label collection from Sur La Table seems to be a move to ride the wave of consumers getting back into the habit of cooking more meals at home, a trend fueled by the pandemic. Private labels in recent years have grown from being considered a "generic" version of an item to desirable brands in and of themselves. Bed Bath & Beyond, for example, has gone all-in on its private label rollout as part of its three-year turnaround plan, launching eight owned brands last year.