RETAILOBSERVER.COM MARCH 2015
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n the summer of 1945, with the war in Europe over and the Pacific
war soon to end, he founded Sub-Zero Freezer Company, making
his tiny enterprise one of the first new companies in the giant
postwar boom in home technology and design. Seventy years later,
that little Midwestern startup – now a household name worldwide – is
still in the Bakke family, still drawing inspiration from leading figures in
the design and architecture communities, and still pioneering technical
innovations that are ahead of their time.
"We've never pushed gimmicks or chased passing fads. All of our
design and engineering are aimed at meaningful innovations that
contribute to the life of the home," says Jim Bakke, Westye's grandson
and president and CEO of the company. "There's a phrase we use
inside the company to describe what we're trying to create through our
products - moments worth savoring in the home. Those moments
come through enjoying better food, from living in a space that's
designed exactly the way you want it, and from owning nice things that
keep serving you well for many, many years. We've never
compromised on quality. My grandfather said that Sub-Zero
would build only the highest-quality products and that
as long as we did, we'd always have customers."
But would Sub-Zero always have enough
customers? That was a question many were
asking when Jim Bakke took the reins of the
company in 1989.
Certainly Sub-Zero had remained innovative.
Jim's father, Bud (who became the company's
second CEO), was an early advocate of the
"total kitchen" concept promoted by cabinet
companies in the 1950s. Refrigeration, he
recognized, could be built into not only kitchen
cabinets but also credenzas, end tables, and bar
counters. Under his leadership, Sub-Zero became, in
"All of our design and engineering are aimed at mean
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