18 Mar /14

Minibar

In the German town of Siegen, fridges were produced under the Siegas brand as early as 1949 and sold via big mail order companies across Germany, rather unsuccessfully. The company achieved the big breakthrough when they started with absorber fridges for the growing hotel and leisure industry. This happened in the 1960s. The family company was then acquired in 1973 by Electrolux who leveraged the skills in Siegen to take the name minibar round the world. Sold on by Electrolux, and now trading under the name of Dometic, the company still produces fridges for hotel minibars, but has extended its range to include caravans, trucks and boats.

The German invention travelled far and quickly. As early as 1971, the word was used in English by the Wisconsin Post Crescent. The paper describes a mini bar and an entertainment centre hidden in the wall.

However, the invention really went mainstream when Hilton executives saw miniature bottles of alcohol on a flight across South East Asia in 1974 and combined the idea with the up-and-coming fridges. It was introduced to the Hilton in Hong Kong where it became an instant success, capitalising on Hilton’s aim of using space to achieve the best profits. The idea was then rolled out across Hilton and taken up by other hotels. Previously water and soft drinks were given free to guests and cost the hotels money. Now with mini bottles of spirits as well as champagne wine and chargeable soft drinks the idea became a cash cow that added up to 5% to net profits of individual hotels. By the end of the year, almost every business traveller knew about minibars.

Ironic is that both Siegas and Hilton are now owned by private equity companies – obviously they see capitalising on refrigeration and hotel space as a good commercial prospect.

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