Whats Not

Display is about intuition. It's about trying to know you and display products of interest. If we keep trying, we will eventually (mostly) succeed.

Then again, sometimes the can't-miss items surprise the most by falling the hardest.

Have a look:

TurboChef Ranges

This is the hottest commercial cooking technology. Turbochef has decreased cooking time significantly without impact to the quality of the food. The residential division, however, can't seem to market the value properly given the high price.

KitchenAid Pro Ranges

I love this range. It has 20,000 BTU burners with decent features at a reasonable price. You seem to prefer the names like Viking and Wolf for this category.

Colored Laundry

Great looking laundry are three of the most irrelevant words in our industry. You will buy Turqoise or Goofy Grape, but only if the price is similar to white.

Dirsruptive Technologies, BU And Consumer Goods

I have to teach a class at BU this evening about disruptive consumer goods, and how we merchandise and market new technologies to the public. I know these kids are watching this blog as part of the assignment, so I will not tip my hand (hopefully I can keep up.)

Disruptive technology is really anything that changes the status quo. It could be partial like Red Bull energy drink or it could become the status quo like an Ipod.

Tonights discussion is a curveball for these MBAs to be. It is about the disruptive product which blew up the once proud Maytag Corp. Anyone have an idea?


We are on the cusp of some very interesting products, which could be the status quo in the future. Here is my view on some potential disruptors in our industry.


LED



Still on expensive side, but LED has massive potential, because it does not generate any heat, has a 20 year lamp life and at present is about 7 times more efficient. One day soon a 1 watt LED will be equivalent to a 100 watt incandescent.


Induction



Induction has already claimed nearly all the upscale electric cooktop market. In 5- 10 years, induction should be the cooking standard.


Speed Cooking



TurboChef and Advantium are the only examples in a market ripe for disruption, but presently there are no products with mass appeal and none on the horizon.


BU grad students....See you tonight.

Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Turbochef

I am a total vegetarian wannabe. My grazing diet is salad, fruit and repeat. To be truthful, I do not like meat, especially burgers and steak.

Ocassionally, I will eat fish or chicken. Recently, I have fallen in love with a breakfeast sandwich at Starbucks of all places. It consists of eggwhites, light cheesse and turkey bacon on a whole wheat english muffin. I was wondering how they are able to serve it so quickly....

Then we look at Dunkin Donuts advertising pizza and flatbread sandwiches, and you wonder how they are able to compose the said items


The answer is unlikely. They employ Turbochef technology or impingement convection with low power microwave. Its unlikely, because until 18 months ago the product had reliability issues....But it seems fixed, unless, of course they are logging thousands of service calls a day





Actually a pretty interesting piece with great technology, interface and of course incredible speed

Turbochef...Again

I have posted about this company much to the consternation of their initial customers. Turbochef is basically a new technology of speed cooking. I was at a trade show 3 years ago when it was first launched. At that time, I was convinced that people would love this product.

Unfortunately, so did Turbochef. There seems to be a mentality amongst companies of sending products into the market and worrying about the problems later. It stems from the software industry where being first is critical. After all, software can be fixed via the internet. Stoves can not.

Almost 3 years later(actually August of last year), Turbochef has finally learned its lesson.

I can Teach(?)

Every February, we have a Home Show in the store. Its about as fun as an appliance store can possibly be. We have some great chefs like Andy Husbands of Tremont647, Jay Murray of Grill23 and the Dean of Johnson and Wales, Steve Shipley demonstrating on different products.

Usually they roll me out of the back office to teach some unsuspecting homeowners. I am a little unsure of this years subject matter. In theory, I could simply click through the blog, but somehow people expect more from me

So three topics are germinating in my head: How to plan a kitchen renovation....Latest and Greatest(like LED and Turbochef)...Green Technologies


So let me know

Turbochef

Turbochef is back, and ready for sales to an adoring public. Why not? It cooks very fast without sacrificing food quality. Turbochef technology has been around commercially for years.

I actually bought the stock when Maytag announced that they will manufacturing ovens and licensing the technology. The Accellis, as Maytag dubbed it, failed miserably. Then again, so did pretty much everything Maytag built.

Turbochef could launch us into the Age of The Jetsons or Star Trek. Then again, it could keep our service department very busy. After 5 years or so, you would hope for success. We will have Kurt demo Turbochef shortly

Consumer Reports

I like Consumer Reports, and many consumers will refer to it when shopping for appliances. I will never understand how they rate the same item so differently. The Kenmore dishwasher is manufactured by either Whirlpool or Frigidaire. There are no Kenmore factories per se, yet the ratings are incredibly different.

They did have an interesting section how to save money on your kitchen. There were 10 points, 8 were related to our industry. Here is my take

1. Consumer Reports: Pro-style ranges perform similarly to regular ranges:
My Take: In many instances 2 out of the 4 burners will work identically to a pro range with similar performance in the range. This is a great place to save money, BUT only in a 30 inch space. Also, regular ranges do not have grill/griddle options or as valued when reselling high end homes/condos

2. Consumer Reports: Skip steam ovens
My Take: Its a pricey option, but steam leaves nutrients and is considered to be a healthier way of cooking than baking.

3. Consumer Reports: Skip Multimedia Refrigerators
My Take: Amen, buy a flat screen for $299 and a regular refrigerator.

4. Consumer Reports: Skip Turbocharged dishwashers.
My Take: There are no turbocharged dishwashers, since Frigidaire discontinued their version.

5. Consumer Reports: Speed Ovens are a waste.
My Take: There are no speed ovens worth noting, other than Miele. This may change when Turbochef reintroduces their oven. It is flat out fast...

6. Consumer Reports: Appliance drawers are too pricey.
My Take: Yes, they are pricey, but there is some cache to an integrated or seamless look.

7: Consumer Reports: Pricey Sinks and Faucets have similar performance to regular products
My Take: Not sure, I do think that there are significant aesthetic differences between products in the $200 to the $500 price point.

8: Consumer Reports: Different Stores have different capabilities.
My Take: No Question, I am biased perhaps, but different stores have different competencies.


Consumer Reports is a start. If you shop around, find reputable companies and are involved with the process, you will save money and have a good experience

Planning Your New Kitchen...First Steps

So you have decided to plan a new kitchen. Kitchen remodelling is the best investment for your home by far, and it does not have to be that hard. You have to find the right contractor(the wrong one will create tons of problems), and then the right cabinet and/or counter top store. They will all have the same question. What are you buying for appliances? The choices are maddening, but lets break it down so it is easier.

Appliances are manufactured to fit cabinets. Seems like an obvious statement, but think about it. Dishwashers, sinks and refrigerators(three basic sizes) fit standard cabinet specs. Specify them last as they will have little bearing on the overall design of the kitchen.

Cooking, on the other hand, will affect the design of your kitchen tremendously. Lets briefly look at the biggest decision in your kitchen: Cooktop and wall oven versus stove.

Here is the skinny:

Cooktop and wall oven works in larger kitchens and is great for ergo metrics (meaning you do not have to bend). The choices are better as well. In cooktops, you can choose induction, which is not available on a stove. In wall ovens, Miele, Wolf and Turbochef are products unavailable in regular ranges. There are also more venting possibilities as well:



Ranges certainly work better in small to mid-sized kitchens. Since the cooking is not being broken into wall oven and cooktop, there is 30 inches saved at the very least. The range does centralize cooking, but the biggest positive is the cost savings, which can be substantial:



This is the toughest decision in kitchen renovation. After this, appliance buying is simple. For readers of Reddit and Digg, welcome to our blog, we focus on objectively critiqueing appliances and lighting, showing you the latest and greatest(and not sometimes) as well as Green energy saving tips. Feel free to leave a comment and we will respond.

Sundries-Appliances

These are few of my favorite appliances. Without question, this is a totally biased column.

KitchenAid compactor: This unit compacts 4 bags of trash into 1. If your chore is to carry trash outside on a freezing cold night, hitting a button is a viable option.


Miele Nespresso: I almost became readdicted to coffee after we had one operational in the store. The coffee is fantastic, and it allows up to six different blends as options.


SubZero wine storage. For about the price of an upscale cabinet, try this instead. SubZero is the only product designed for proper wine storage with two distinct temperature zones, a low E glass door that refracts light and safeguards for proper humidity and vibration control.


Steam oven/module: By adding moisture(steam), none of the nutrients are lost like conventional ovens. The food just tastes better as well. You can even bake brownies in these ovens.


TurboChef Oven: Easy interface and a product with a hip retro design that cooks 3-15 times faster than a regular oven. It is new, so lets see if it works.


Marvel Icemaker: 35 pounds of clear ice in 24 hours...After all, you can never have too much ice.


Miele full size washer and dryer: It is larger(4.0 cubic) and uses only about 10 gallons of water versus 42 for a top loader. Miele also has a great control and a honeycomb drum that is the most gentle on clothes of any brand. Last year only 10 out of 19,000 service visits from our repair department were for Miele products.