Husqvarna Acquires Bluebird International

Husqvarna, a manufacturer and provider of a variety of hand-held products and mowers for commercial users, announced the acquisition of 100 percent of Bluebird’s shares today, Sept. 1, 2000. Bluebird manufactures a variety of turf care products, with its Denver, Colo., turf care business generating annual sales of approximately $18 million. That business currently employs about 75 people who will now become employees of Husqvarna Turf Care.

Husqvarna will continue to market the Bluebird brand through existing Bluebird dealers and its distributor network. Husqvarna will also brand a majority of Bluebird’s turf care products to be sold through commercially qualified Husqvarna Total Source retailers worldwide. The new products added to the company’s offering include commercial dethatchers, aerators, sod cutters, seeders, collection systems and other equipment. "We are excited that we can further extend our product offering in the commercial lawn maintenance business," said Dave Zerfoss, president of Husqvarna.

Bluebird was a good fit for Husqvarna both in product offerings and quality. "We provide a lot of support and pride in our products. And that’s really a specific reason why we selected Bluebird," said Zerfoss. "We’re very proud to acquire a company of that quality of stature because when you put the name Husqvarna on that product and we proudly put our orange color on it, we want to make certain that it fits our image and our brand promise."

Following the Yazoo/Kees acquisition last year, Husqvarna increased its original stand as a hand-held equipment manufacturer to add its own line of commercial riding mowers, zero-turn mowers and intermediate walk-behind mowers. It has now added several products to assist turf care professionals with all aspects of lawn maintenance. "Our principal reason is to expand our commercial maintenance system as part of our Total Source concept. We want to be sure that we are the one-stop shop for the lawn maintenance customer," said Zerfoss.

TOTAL SOURCE RETAILERS. "We have worked very hard at developing a product strategy that would include all of the major product groups for a Total Source retailer," said Zerfoss. "The concept is a broad range of products that a dealer can major on a specific manufacturer to support his business, so he does not have to spend time dealing with 10 to 20 different manufacturers to get the same product offering." The same concept holds true for end users.

According to Zerfoss, the one-stop shop for a wide variety of equipment increases the end user’s productivity by limiting the amount of running around to purchase products or have equipment serviced. "Obviously, for the commercial user time is money, and that is the only irreplaceable currency he has. Now he will not have to stop at three or four retailers to get the supporting products that he needs," said Zerfoss.

To make its one-stop shop complete and dealer- and end user-friendly, Husqvarna provides retailers with all of the necessary training, education, warranty coverage, equipment servicing and customer support required to sell its products. The company also assists with marketing, showroom merchandising and inventory financing for retailers. Additionally, retail financing and commercial leasing programs are made available to commercial maintenance professionals to help them purchase the products, parts and services they need develop their businesses. "It’s a very broad range picture, not only for our retailer, but also for the commercial user," explained Zerfoss.

The addition of Bluebird’s lawn renovation products to Total Source retailers reflects on the changing turf care industry as more contractors use less chemicals and focus on other methods of developing lush lawns, according to Zerfoss. "Most of the lawn maintenance companies are offering very extensive services, and there’s just a growing aspect of plugging and dethatching," he said. "These products are coming much more to the forefront as viable products and services to be offered by the commercial user so he has more of a year-round offering."

HUSQVARNA’S GROWTH. Zerfoss alluded several years ago to Lawn & Landscape Media Group Publisher Cindy Code that Husqvarna was developing ways to become a premier player in the lawn care maintenance industry. He said it took a few years for that strategy to unfold, but that through the Yazoo/Kees and Bluebird acquisitions, as well as future plans he would not elaborate on, Husqvarna would become "a recognized premium leader in commercial lawn care equipment."

"We are absolutely dedicated over this next several year period to be the leader in commercial application equipment for the lawn maintenance industry. That’s been very carefully calculated as we made the purchase of Yazoo/Kees last October, Bluebird International now and other product areas to be announced over the next months to come," he continued. "There will be continued acquisitions to really place us in the absolute premier position of offering lawn care equipment."

According to Zerfoss the Yazoo/Kees acquisition by Husqvarna was the first major move by the company in the lawn maintenance and mowing equipment area. It expanded the company’s offering from hand-held trimming equipment to large-scale mowing equipment, and the Bluebird acquisition adds even more versatility. "We wanted to expand this line not only to the mowing equipment side of it, but also to these other support products that professionals use and are starting to use more and more to expand their offerings to their consumers," explained Zerfoss.

Regarding the Bluebird acquisition, Zerfoss said, "It’s a great opportunity for our servicing retailers and it’s also a great expanding market in the lawn maintenance side, so it’s a win-win from the manufacturer to the retailer to the end user. We just want to complement it with our philosophy of Total Source and one-stop shopping."

For more information about Husqvarna visit its web site at www.husqvarna.com.