OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Model Histories VICTA Models VICTA MAYFAIR - Victa's First Stencil - c1965

Hello ODK History Lovers

The Mayfair is an important lawnmower in Victa folklore, and much has been
misunderstood about its role in vintage mower history. This article attempts
to set the record straight, as best I can, about this machine.

TERMINOLOGY
From the outset, I feel I should clarify the terminology. Victa themselves
classified the Mayfair as a 'Stencil', the definition of which is illuminating:

originally a sheet (metal, plastic, or cardboard) in which a desired lettering
or design has been cut, so that ink or paint applied to a surface will reproduce
the pattern of the stencil.

In other words, the Mayfair was a generic lawnmower
that could be sold to various dealers, and branded as a 'Mayfair'.

The Store Brand is a specific type of Stencil, and I want to stress the
difference. A Store brand is not sold to various dealers, but to one dealer
who wished - and paid for - a stencil to be branded to a particular dealer-
chosen name: perhaps 'Celestial' or 'Contessa', or 'Capri', or 'Mitre 10',
'Lawnmaster' or 'Patrick Kills Oysters', or whatever... !



This article explores the Mayfair in context. I argue that the rationale for
its existence was multi-faceted; in that its original purpose was, perhaps, to
combat Victa's opposition; but the main reason was - I argue - to cater to the
emerging and powerful mass retailers and, at the same time, to appease and keep
the smaller, loyal dealers in the Victa fold. The Mayfair was always going to be
commercially 'political'.

The starting point to all this should come from a key primary document.
John Mason, who joined Victa as General Sales Manager in 1955, and retired in
1969, wrote his memoir of his years at Victa at the grand old age of 84 in 2003.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - John Mason's View

A careful reading of Mason's explanation for the Mayfair is revealing.
The initial impetus to offer the Mayfair as an unbranded Victa was to
enable Victa dealers to combat opposition manufacturers.

The last two paragraphs reveal, however, a second reason. It was to
cater to the big dealers who could buy in bulk. If you bought 250
mowers in one go, you could get a Store Brand at a very
attractive (and confidential) price. Say no more.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Victa's Dealer Policy was intended to discourage and minimise discounting and to help the dealer to
keep his hard-earned margin in his pocket However, we received frequent requests from the dealers
to allow then to combat the rampant discounting schemes which the opposition manufacturers were
encouraging. It was not difficult to understand that these manufacturers felt they had to do something -
anything - to get under our guard. Also, any mower retailer who did not have a Victa dealership was
finding the going tough. The Victa dealers became the target for the other manufacturers and they ran
heavily discounted sales drives with all sorts of giveaways.

Our dealers felt they should be able to take on these 'renegades'. But how? If the dealer resorted to
giveaways would this amount to discounting. The short answer was 'yes'. This led us to consider how
we could retain our dealers' enthusiasm to 'have-a-go' at the opposition; nevertheless we were not
prepared to allow the value of our product and our dealership to be eroded.

We had to find an answer which encouraged the dealers and, at the same time, maintained the terms
and value of the Victa Dealer Policy, but also, kept the opposition out of this segment of the mower
market.

It was decided that we should produce a mower under the name of 'Mayfair' which was of good
quality, but with a minimum of refinements and nowhere on the mower or the carton was there to lie
any indication that the mower was made by Victa.

A suggested retail price was struck and the buying price of the mower varied according to the quantity
bought. There was no restriction as to how the dealer should sell the Mayfair or what 'giveaways'
were involved. If the non-Victa reseller down the road had a special promotion going, our Victa dealer
could take him on with the Mayfair.

We were not so naive as to think that our dealer would avoid any mention of the word Victa when he
was selling a Mayfair, but he certainly could not go into print with the word 'Victa' linked to his
'Mayfair" advertisement.

The Mayfair model gave the dealers the means of combating some of the promotional schemes which
the opposition manufacturers resorted to in order to stir up business.

Some of our big dealers were prepared to go a stage further and asked us to make a mower especially
for them and carrying a name of their choosing. We were able to put a proposition to them which
meant they could have their own mower and name and in their own colour if they were prepared to
order 250 mowers to be taken in one delivery. It was essential that we got these mowers down the
assembly line and out of the warehouse fast, as we were not prepared to carry any stock. One run
and one delivery together with a very attractive price consideration as part of the total package held a
lot of appeal.

It was pleasing to see some of the larger dealers with many outlets take up the offer and run some
very attractive promotions with giveaways which were quite imaginative. We referred to these "made
to order' mowers as STORE BRAND mowers. So, the Mayfair model, under several noms-de-lawn,
was the means of making inroads into that section of the market which the Victa brand could not
penetrate.

Extract: 2003. Turning Grass into Lawn: The Victa Story. John Mason. Self-published, pp103-104.

A History Record on the first Mayfairs is available:
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=72165


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