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The giants heartily disclaim that they are smothering the small fry among manufacturers and dealers. Protests General Electric Co. Executive Vice President Roy Johnson: "We don't believe that only the full-line appliance manufacturers will survive this race. Some small company may come up with a new feature, like a waterless machine that would vibrate the dirt out of clothes, and sweep the field."
Actually, the small companies that have done best are those that have stuck to just one or two products and continued to come up with new features.
Among them are Iowa's Amana Refrigerator, Inc., which concentrates its advertising budget on home freezers, claims to be the biggest producer of them; Michigan's Ironrite Co., which grosses $6,000,000 a year by renting ironing machines, letting housewives apply payments toward later purchase of ironers; Philadelphia's Proctor Electric Co., which turned out an iron with steam holes over its entire sole rather than just the tip, now has sales galloping 300% ahead of last year.
Says Proctor's Advertising Director William Rambo: "If you have quality and the right price, you're bound to survive."