A lot has transpired since Julie Burns, Executive Director of Monogram, was last on the podcast over three years ago! We dive into the current (and future) state of the luxury appliance market and look at some of the truly creative and innovative partnerships Monogram has launched over the past year.

Rob Stott: All right, we are back on the Independent Thinking Podcast and real excited today. We talked about it right before we hit record here, but it’s been like three years since we’ve talked, Ms. Julie Burns.

Julie Burns: I know. It’s kind of crazy and it’s one of those things that I was still so new on the job that I think I was still trying to figure out how everything works and how you put things together and how different the industry is. I mean, to be honest with you, four years later I still feel like I’m still learning a ton.

Rob Stott: Right? The world continues to change. I mean, think about how times change. That was coming right out of the pandemic, our first prime time back in Nashville, we were still meeting at Gaylord Convention Centers at the time. So much has changed.

Julie Burns: Oh, I know, and it’s been great, it’s been good to see since then just how everybody continues to come back to the shows, and the enthusiasm, despite all of the shifts and all of the kind of nimbleness that we all need to react to, it’s been good to see.

Rob Stott: Absolutely. Well, excited to get you back on, executive director of the Monogram brand there at GE Appliances. We’ll start with today. We’ve got a lot to talk about, a lot of exciting things I’m looking forward to diving into with you, but let’s start with today. How are things, how’s business today, how is the luxury category and how is Monogram?

Julie Burns: Yeah. I think the last four years, and we talked a little bit about this, I mean it’s been fairly unprecedented, but I do have to say that for Monogram specifically, I mean we’ve had unprecedented investment in the brand. We did a full overhaul, we invested in a new sales team. There’s been a focus on display so that in-store experience is fantastic. New product, new programming, all those kinds of things that I think have really set us up well. Certainly, that said, this year has certainly been slower. I think we all know the luxury appliance industry is soft. It’s something that we haven’t really seen in the last several years despite very much of the Covid kind of situation, which was an anomaly in and of itself. I think, for Monogram, we do constantly look at industry numbers, what’s going on, places such as AHAM to help contextualize what’s going on.

We see that built in refrigeration and per range are down double digits, and so we know that the overall luxury pie is smaller, and so as a result, it’s an incredibly competitive environment right now. Any kind of competitive environment breeds creativity. For us, I think we’ve been really fortunate, where we’ve been able to hold our own. Those investments and that focus and everything else we’ve done the last several years have really allowed us to probably stay at parity, and dare I say, even maybe slightly better in some of the product lines. We are realistic, but I feel good that those investments are starting to pay off.

Rob Stott: Well, anyone following economic figures, I think, to you, home starts and things like that, that all trickles down, right? You’re talking about appliances. If new homes aren’t being built, there aren’t appliances to put them in, so it kind of just makes sense. To your point, a lot of interesting things going on and creativity, which I think is awesome, we’ll get to dive into that in a little bit. As you look ahead, do you see things, obviously, again tracking the numbers, looking at economic figures and projections, we can do it, but what are you guys seeing from your perspective, from your seat as we get into ’25?

Julie Burns: Yeah. I think ’25 is a little bit hard to tell, right? I mean, I think it’s one of those where we’re not quite sure how it’s going to turn out. I would say what is safe to say is that luxury is going to be just as competitive going into ’25, and we’re hoping that there will be some type of turnaround, probably mid-year-ish. What I would say, what we do know for sure is that the luxury consumer, at the end of the day, they view their home as an investment. It’s part of their portfolio, it is an asset, and right now they’ve got equity, which is good. From what we’re seeing and what we’re hearing from everyone, the industry could open back up next year and then hopefully we’ll get a little bit of additional help from the Fed.

Rob Stott: Yeah. I mentioned that the home starts is probably a telling figure. Do you guys look at any other, as you project out and the numbers that are important to you as you think about where your space is heading, are there other data points or areas of emphasis that you like to focus on?

Julie Burns: Yeah. I think one of the things that we often will look at, and it’s always interesting because I think there’s one around the luxury appliance industry. It’s another to look at just the overall luxury landscape and what’s going on. If we look at luxury in total, not just appliances, but overall, the luxury market is seeing a downturn. We often talk about, I’m probably guilty of it as well, is talking about how luxury consumers are economically a lot more resilient to some of the ups and downs and everything else that you see in other segments of the population. That certainly could be true, but I think right now what we’re watching is that there are some critical global markets that are stagnating, and those have been really key drivers for some of that growth in the past, and so continuing to watch what’s going to happen there is also going to have an impact in terms of what we’re doing here in the states and what that means for the overall luxury market and discretionary income.

There’s a lot of factors that go into some of those things, and so when we look at it, there’s a lot of smaller independent specialty players that are coming into the market that haven’t come up before, and I think those are ones that are really ones to watch. It’s one of those where they can specialize in a given area, and so just bring in a whole different kind of entry. I think there’s more scrutiny on what are those ethical practices that are happening, where are people sourcing materials, what kind of impact does that have on the environment? All of those kinds of things are areas in which you probably didn’t have to think about as much before, but we certainly know that it’s high on everybody’s mind, certainly, the younger generations coming up that will be coming into affluence and everything else, that they’re certainly going to care about those things, and so all of that is going to play into what that means for long-term strategies, and then in particular for brands such as ours, what that means in terms of sustainable growth so that you continue to stay relevant.

Rob Stott: Yeah. No, it makes sense. It’s kind of a parallel, not necessarily related to our industry, but I almost think of it like the Apple effect. Watching the keynotes and Tim Cook get out there every so often, the things they talk about, whether it’s health and wellness or how they build their products. I think that what they have, that goal of Apple 2030 or something like that, about being sustainable, and the emissions and things like that. All the things they talk about are the things you’re kind of alluding to here and what matter to, not only customers today, but future generations and the things that are important to them as they seek out brands that they want to engage with.

Julie Burns: Yeah. I think it’s great. I mean, I think it’s one of those where you continue to see that evolution. I think it’s one to see people care about what’s going on outside of their own bubble and what does that look like. I think they are so much more informed in what that looks like and really kind of shapes how we want to be when we grow up. I love that you see all of these larger organizations declaring on what it is that they want to be able to do. That is going to become even more important.

What I find really fascinating and interesting is that you’ve got folks that are really making a conscious effort on what does that look like when they are building their home or they’re remodeling their home, and what it is that they’re using. You see this in the design space as well. You’ve got some designers that are really kind of pivoting towards, well, I’m going to do nothing but source sustainably some of these materials that I’m using, some of the recommendations I’m making to my clients, which is a really fascinating space to watch.

Rob Stott: Yeah. Well, even just as important as it is to you as a brand and the designers in the space and things like that, the retailers too, that’s a message that they can leverage that they have these brands that cater to those needs or make an emphasis around those areas that they carry those lines in their stores and are able to offer them to those customers who, at the end of the day, that’s where these things are targeted to. Right?

Julie Burns: Yeah, for sure. It’s really interesting, and again, we’ll continue to see how this happens, I mean, as we all know, a lot of these things around sustainability, environmental impact happen on the coast and then they make their way to the center of the US. I think from a home trends perspective, we’re seeing that sustainability come through, where people are looking more at what does it look like for solar panels? What does that look like in terms of not just incentives, but then what does that mean in terms of what I’m giving back, but what that looks like for my own grid, for my home?

Energy efficient appliances. That’s been around for quite some time, but it almost seems like there’s a resurgence around what is the energy star rating and what kind of appliances are there to offer, even so far as to what does it look like for battery backups and what does that look like? I think, for Monogram, one of the things that we’re excited about is that we continue to have a really great relationship with Savant when we talk about automation and energy management and all of those, and what that looks like.

Rob Stott: Yeah, I am glad, I was debating in my head, I forgot if it was Monogram or Profile that had the Savant relationship. Monogram, right?

Julie Burns: It’s both of our brands.

Rob Stott: Oh, there you go. All right, perfect.

Julie Burns: It works out. What’s great is that, one, I mean, I think as being a part of GE appliances where we’ve got a portfolio of brands, I think what’s great is that Savant can also traverse across a couple of our brands, so when you talk about that luxury home where everything is automated and that energy management, where they’re going to have everything to be able to do a holistic system is perfect. When you talk about the point to point kind of system and what does that look like, where I just need to have a battery pack to keep my refrigerator up and running, what does that look like from a Profile perspective? It’s nice to be able to have a partner that can have different solutions, but we have the common goal in place that we want to be able to bring smart home and we want to be able to bring energy management in a very easy, comprehensive way.

Rob Stott: Yeah. Well, what’s awesome about that too is that it takes that smart home conversation, I think consumers probably when they traditionally think of smart appliances, they think of the screens on the doors and very high techie stuff. It doesn’t have to be that, right? It’s kind of proof in the pudding of this partnership. GE and Monogram, the Profile, all the different brands have been able to build with Savant. It launched KBIS this past year, is that right? Where it was first announced? I need to see it kind of grow too in just a short period of time.

Julie Burns: Absolutely. I think you’ll continue to see that evolution of how we continue to partner, what does that look like. For Monogram, we’ve got a new partnership with them so that any of their dealers are able to specify Monogram into some of the homes that they’re in. I think they’re super excited about it, as are we. It’s a nice synergy across the two brands and to be able to say, hey, we’ve got other builders, other kind of designers that you can help to get the word out and understand where that kind of comes and really the forward strategic perspective that we have.

Rob Stott: Yeah. I mean, to your point of making sense, that customer that is looking at home automation and that level of, not DIY, I just want a doorbell camera, it’s like more of a truly integrated home. If they are already thinking about that, the kitchen is sort of that next obvious step for them and it does make sense because they are that level of customer, that client that would be thinking that way. Awesome to see, and I’m excited to continue to watch that grow too.

Julie Burns: No, for sure.

Rob Stott: Yeah. A little kind of foreshadowing, I want to dive too deep into partnerships because we talked a lot about some of the trends and things like that, and you hit on a lot. Are there any others that retailers need to be aware of in the luxury space? We hit on smart home and home automation and what’s happening in their energy efficiency, but any design trends you’re keeping an eye on as you guys think about your products and how they fit into the luxury kitchens of today and tomorrow?

Julie Burns: Yeah. I think what is great is that obviously there’s the kitchen and we always think about appliances going to the kitchen, but I think what we are continuing to see, and I think it’s been certainly in luxury design, but you’re seeing it more, is around what does it look like for luxury hotel residences, for instance. There was a project in Nashville with the Conrad Hotel-

Rob Stott: Yeah, that’s right.

Julie Burns: The residences of the top portion of the floors. In that kind of environment, what you see is, you see more in-room kind of kitchenettes and you see cocktail bars and you see all these other types of things where you get all of the amenities that you would think of as a single-family home in something like that. I would say certainly in the other kind of design that we’re seeing for hotel, not hotels, but in residences are the emphasis, and you mentioned it earlier about wellness and so you see some wellness rooms that are popping up and what does that look like. If you have warming drawers in your master bathroom, you have a nice warm towel when you get out of the shower, some of those things. You see wellness rooms, you see other kinds of amenities either in a master suite, I guess I should say primary suite where you’ve got what they call a morning kitchen or a wet bar. You can have your coffee in the morning while you’re still waking up and getting a morning start, and some of those things.

Rob Stott: I need to keep you away from the wife, and maybe myself too. You’re making my brain stir of what can happen. This is a dangerous conversation, I like where it’s going though.

Julie Burns: No, but it’s great. I think that whole idea of, appliances don’t have to necessarily just stay in the kitchen. There is this possibility of saying, hey, there’s a lot of other places that you can use the same technology, the modern conveniences throughout the home.

Rob Stott: No, that’s awesome, I think to your point, shows that next evolution of, you don’t have to think about just the kitchen. I think that’s pretty cool, and it gives just a wider story for your brand and then also the retailers as well to be able to tell that and extend the business beyond one room in the house to many others potentially, so that’s pretty cool. We mentioned partnerships, you got Savant, there’s another really cool one that you guys announced this year and that was Lexus, a little car partnership. I know it’s a concept car, so we won’t be seeing this on the roads anytime soon. As sad as that makes me to not be able to cook pizzas and things like that from my trunk, but pretty cool. Talk about that a little bit and how that came about.

Julie Burns: Yeah. We got to know the Lexus team through our partnership at the Food and Wine Classic, and it’s one of those where you have culinary brands and lovers all in one particular space, and so we started a relationship with them there. I think when it came about to say, hey, we’re going to launch our new Lexus GX and we’d love to partner with Monogram. This would be amazing. I mean, I think this is one of those that is the quintessential embodiment of how Monogram brings together design and culinary. We think about that Lexus GX being outfitted inspired from the designer collection.

The finish on the outside of the car was inspired by titanium. There were luggage racks at the top and they were inspired by our designer collection handles, and then of course you open up the back and it takes a whole other view of, I don’t even want to say camping, but it kind of is, so you think about your picnicking out to a whole other level. What is really fun about that with the hearth oven being integrated there is that you can actually hook that up to a generator and you can actually cook out of it. You’re right, it is a concept car, so you won’t drive it on the road, but certainly it has been transported. Lexus just launched a custom content series that highlights all of those kinds of things of the luxuries that you can have with something like that and take your picnicking, if you will, to a whole other elevated level.

Rob Stott: We just got-

Julie Burns: That was a really exciting partnership, for sure.

Rob Stott: Yeah. I mean, we just got done talking about extending beyond the kitchen to other rooms of the home. This goes outside the home and takes it into a car and onto the road, but a really unique way of showcasing how your technology can influence so many different areas, and established, not only just a cool talking piece, but truly showcase the opportunities and possibilities of that kind of quintessential out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to the way you guys go about doing the things you’re doing, which I have to think that’s an important piece. It’s one of those fun projects. It may never see the road truly or be out there in mass production, but the ability to go do that and showcase what’s possible, had to be a really cool opportunity and an important one.

Julie Burns: No, it absolutely is. Honestly we just get the benefit of having some really great partnerships. Philosophically, for us, I think it’s part of… I could tell you all day long about how great we are and I might be a little bit biased, but the reality is that there’s something else to be said about the friends in the company that you keep and what those partnerships look like and who is telling that story, why they selected Monogram and what that looks like. I think that’s the beauty of what we have really transformed with the brand and how we think about things and who we partner with. Candidly, I think we really like being able to disrupt the convention.

Rob Stott: Yeah. No, that’s pretty awesome. I hope to see more of it. I don’t know if that’s me asking for an answer or just asking you to keep going because I love it. To be able to talk about that, it’s a really cool opportunity for us, sounds kind of selfishly, us to be able to tell that story too and show our members what you’re thinking of and how you’re thinking and the things you’re able to do, but also could we see more of that? Is that how you guys continue to think and evolve in that way?

Julie Burns: Yeah. I mean, I think part of it goes back to just how we talk about the brand, how we do that storytelling, and I think we know that at the luxury level you need to be able to make that emotional connection, you need to be able to tell the brand in a really compelling way. Partnerships is one way, I think. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say my other favorite partnerships that we did was with Chef Marcus Samuelsson. We produced some custom content with him, and little did I know that that custom content series that we did would win an Emmy, and never would’ve thought that somebody sitting in the appliances business can say that they won an Emmy, but we did and it was just an amazing collaboration.

I think telling those stories become really important. I think disrupting the convention is something that we love to be able to do, and frankly it’s something that we’re going to continue to do. Dare I say, and give you a tidbit or a little bit of a tease that we’re kind of thinking along those same lines when we think about KBIS in 2025. I honestly just can’t wait for you guys to see what we have up our sleeves.

Rob Stott: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, now I’m excited, as if I wasn’t already, but now even more excited about what’s to come in the new year, and obviously KBIS, we are sitting here as we talk in November just a couple of months away, it’s crazy. How is it already coming up?

Julie Burns: It’s right around the corner, and honestly, even with it coming later in February, just like it was this past year, it’s one of those that you blink and all of a sudden it’s here, because we’ll be going into the holiday season and hopefully everybody gets just maybe a little bit of downtime before we jump full in at the beginning of January. We blink and it’s here.

Rob Stott: Unreal. Well, we look forward to it, and I like that. A little cliffhanger we can leave everyone on of what’s to come for Monogram in early 2025. Julie, this was awesome. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing some updates with us. It’s been a year, that’s for sure, I think everyone knows that, but awesome to be able to chat with you and kind of see where things are heading, and obviously an exciting path forward as well. 2025 has lots in store for sure for Monogram and our retailers, so we appreciate it.

Julie Burns: Yes, thank you. Well, I appreciate it, I feel so honored to be on with you. It’s always great to catch up, and I really appreciate it. I’m looking forward to a great new year.

Rob Stott: Yeah, let’s not make it another three and a half four years. We’ll have to catch up again before that. Maybe we’ll have something to talk about in a few months. Awesome. Thank you.

Julie Burns: Sounds great, thanks Rob.