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Utah’s Back to Basics to merge with West Bend Housewares

By Daily Herald - | Jan 17, 2007

Utah’s Back to Basics to merge with West Bend Housewares

BLUFFDALE, Utah (AP) — Back to Basics, a Utah company that makes kitchen appliances, has been acquired by the owner of the West Bend brand.

Back to Basics products include an appliance that toasts bread, cooks eggs and warms sausages at the same time. The new owner is Focus Products Group of Vernon Hills, Ill.

“The small-appliance industry is made up of a lot of companies,” Focus Products chief executive Keith Jaffee said. “But very seldom do you find a small company that has created as much excitement as Back to Basics.

“Everyone looks to the company for innovation and excitement,” he said.

No financial details on the purchase were disclosed.

Back to Basics will be combined with the West Bend Housewares division. They will operate under the name Focus Electrics Group, a unit with estimated annual revenue of $250 million.

“Back to Basics really has a core competency in motor-driven products: food processors, blenders, anything with a motor,” said Back to Basics chief executive Randy Hales, who will become chief executive of Focus Electrics Group.

Back to Basics has grown to 90 employees at its Bluffdale headquarters and a Salt Lake City distribution center. Three people will lose their jobs, Hales said.

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C4.

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