Regina Smith noticed an unusual refrigerator in a friend's kitchen in Short Hills, New Jersey. It was more than 2m tall without a freezer -- a sister unit takes care of that -- it is about 1m wide, and Smith couldn't help wondering why her friend had bought something so, well, supersized. "And then I realized," she recalled, "of course the pizza box had to fit."
Viking range, move over. The newest star in the kitchen is the refrigerator. Inspired by the success of prestige brands like Sub-Zero, and determined to make a simple box stand out in a crowd, rivals like General Electric, Electrolux, Jenn-Air and Thermador are introducing solutions that make the ubiquitous ice maker and the garden-variety produce drawer seem quaint.
Manufacturers are rolling out models designed to meet the needs and fantasies of all kinds of households, including the one with the manifesto, "We will eat only healthy food." The latest options include spa-like humidifiers for the wilted lettuce, separate temperature zones for the Brie and the rapidly aging tenderloin, and a quick-chill device for the Vouvray.
For consumers who do a better job of buying baby greens than actually eating them, Fisher & Paykel is promoting a new seal on the old produce bin because, as Bryce Wells, director of American marketing, puts it, "vegetables are not technically dead, and they continue to breathe." From that old standby, GE, come high-tech devices like "dual evaporation" air systems to offset smelly fridge syndrome.
Americans will buy a record 10 million refrigerators this year, and many people are taking home more than one, according to numerous kitchen designers and manufacturers. Prices run from US$450 to US$6,500, and as Consumer Reports points out, they all work pretty well.
But people with means who feel a need to express themselves in the theater of cold cuts and fruit juice are opting for elaborate four-figure cooling complexes with multiple parts and satellite units to flank the main attraction. Refrigerators have become a fashion item.
John Swenson, director of marketing for Electrolux, which introduced a US$2,500 model in the US this year, said that 10 percent of all buyers act on impulse, up from 1 to 2 percent a decade ago, when people bought new refrigerators only to replace a worn-out model or to complete a renovation.
Now a new refrigerator often just makes people feel good. At 47, Susan Vicenti, a book designer in Ipswich, Massachusetts, had never bought an appliance, she said. That was before she looked across a crowded showroom and fell in love with a shiny stainless steel GE Profile, moving it into her condominium.
"You would never think you could get excited about refrigerators, but then you find something that is functional as well as aesthetically pleasing," she said.
Stainless, once a high-end amenity, has become so popular that it is subject to innovation, such as the smudge-resistant finish.
If sticky fingerprints sound like a big issue, General Electric has an explanation: The refrigerator is opened 55 times a day, on average.
Now manufacturers are hard at work on stainless look-alikes that, unlike the real thing, take the all-important magnet.
Like Viking ranges, which helped transform the simple stove of the 1980s into BTU behemoths, the latest generation of refrigerators are attracting people who want to express themselves through their batterie de cuisine. And many new models encourage their owners to customize.
Northland, which specializes in custom dimensions, has shrunk one US$3,800 unit to a slender half-meter wide, ideal for tall vodka bottles and carryout cartons. Summit, another special-order maker, has devised several versions of under-the-counter refrigerator drawer units to fit in a kitchen island.
The new refrigerator dines out on words like nimble and flexible, feeding a trend toward multiple iceboxes. When they are spread out, suburban kitchen designers say, they help alleviate traffic jams in the most popular room in the house.
"The kitchen was originally conceived as a place where one person prepared the meal," said Jane Fulton Suri, who studies human behavior at Ideo, a design firm in Palo Alto, California. Today "people are looking for ways to interact," she said, and by working in parallel fashion "they can be together even if they end up eating different things at different times."
While one parent mans the high-BTU burner, reaching for onions and carrots in oven-side refrigerator drawers, the kids can plunder a satellite drawer for juice boxes at a safe distance. Guests, meanwhile, can be sequestered near the ice maker, said Baroque Fineberg, a kitchen designer in Houston, clearing the way for a cook who does not want "people interfering with the work zone."
Weekend chefs have long been enamored of the industrial-looking Sub-Zero, with its dual compressors, hefty doors and streamlined look. Despite its strange need to be vacuumed periodically, like a swimming pool, and its price (around US$5,000), its stainless steel model has inspired countless imitators. Eight months ago Fisher & Paykel, a New Zealand company with cult status, introduced a US$1,100 smudge-resistant version.
The fridge's below-average height -- just short of 1.7m -- makes it ideal for the the Manhattan market, Wells said. Outside the city, he said, people buy this model in pairs for a wide and shiny side-by-side configuration.
Husbands aren't usually allowed to weigh in on appliance purchases, kitchen designers say. But increasingly they are joining the refrigerator debate. Swenson said he hopes to reach a man who trusts brands, would like to drive a Lexus and identifies with Tom Cruise.
Men like the one who is married to Helen O'Neill Holmes. While she was shopping for an oven for a new house in Westport, Connecticut, her husband, who asked that his name not be used, was homing in on the icebox. With three young children, he reasoned the family would need ample space for gallon containers of milk and ice cream. He selected a 1.2m-wide fridge, a separate half-meter wide freezer, a stand-alone ice maker and a wine cooler with dual-temperature zones.
Holmes may be the chief cook, her husband said, "but I'm king of the refrigerator."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned