Retail Observer

JANUARY 2016 RETAILOBSERVER.COM 11 The Era of Personalization Over the last five years, Thermador has been at the forefront of another major paradigm shift in kitchen design – personalization. With the kitchen evolving into the central hub of activity and more gathering to partake in the cooking experience, today's culinary enthusiasts want their kitchens designed around their own unique style of cooking and entertaining. As a luxury cooking leader, Thermador offers these culinary enthusiasts two different cooking lines, the Professional ® Series, a statement in the kitchen with stainless steel and professional-style features, and the Masterpiece ® Series, a more contemporary look with flush integration and digital controls, each offering a variety of surface cooking and oven options. According to Thermador, a kitchen designed for ultimate cooking also requires the best in culinary preservation, and the brand understands that culinary enthusiasts want their preservation options to deliver upon more than food storage. "There is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach to refrigeration in the kitchen or elsewhere throughout the home," said Elkin. "These real cooks are moving toward fully-flush, integrated refrigeration that can seamlessly blend into virtually any design, and be configured into any combination of fresh food, freezer or wine preservation units they desire." Designers are installing highly customized Thermador Culinary Preservation Centers, each uniquely tailored to the specifications of the culinary enthusiast. For example, those who have a passion for entertaining large groups may request an entire wall of refrigeration and wine preservation to ensure ample supply of fresh ingredients and beverages. Others are setting aside specific zones around the home, such as Beverage Centers with a refrigeration column, a wine column and even a built-in coffee machine so that a hot or chilled beverage is always within reach. The ability to place custom panels on the doors and fully flush installation enable these Preservation Centers to disappear into any room of the home, and add an element of fun to the design process by opening up the possibilities to incorporate different materials and colors. An Expanded Preservation Line Building upon the flexibility and popularity of its Culinary Preservation Centers, this month Thermador is expanding the line with the introduction of two under counter options: the 24" Wine Reserve Refrigerator and 24" Double Drawer Refrigerator. With the trend in bringing custom zones throughout the home, these are an ideal solution for the growing interest in installations such as a morning bar for the master suite, which often incorporate a built-in coffee machine, along with refrigeration, a warming drawer or a MicroDrawer ® that can be installed underneath the counter. The 24" Wine Reserve Refrigerator is a smaller or additional chilling option for wine. The unit can hold up to 42 750-ml bottles of wine, with six shelves crafted from Wenge wood to match the full sized wine preservation columns, five of which offer full extension. Additional features include: dual temperature zones that enable reds and whites to be chilled at different temperatures, electronic soft-touch controls, soft close door hinges, a door-ajar alarm, UV-tempered glass doors, and vibration control around the compressor. The Double Drawer Refrigerator is a supplementary cooling appliance that offers three different preservation options: Refrigeration Mode to preserve fresh ingredients, Pantry Mode to store items at a warmer temperature, and Bar Mode to chill beverages at colder temperatures. Each mode can be selected by pushing the soft touch controls, and both drawers will remain in the chosen mode until a new option is selected. To add flexibility in how they can be utilized, each drawer features removable dividers that can separate the drawers into different areas, and in the top drawer a divider can be placed on a ledge to create a shelf for stacking items. Like their full-sized preservation companions, both offer fully flush installation and the ability to place a custom panel on the door. 1940 - THE FIRST "BILT-IN" APPLIANCES Thermador introduced "Bilt-In" Appliances at a world exhibition billed as "The Kitchen of the Future." 1947 - THE FIRST WALL OVEN WITH MATCHING COOKTOP Thermador introduced the first "Stainless Kitchen" and produced the world's first "Bilt-In" Wall Oven with a matching "Bilt-In" Cooktop. 1955 - COOKTOP CONFIGURATIONS Thermador introduced the first Electric "Cooktops" with Specialty Multiple Element configurations and established industry standards for cooktop sizes 30", 34", 36" and 45". 1950 - THE "NORRIS" ARTIFACTS & GREEN MOVEMENT Thermador Electric Company was acquired by Norris Industries and renamed Norris-Thermador Corporation. During this period, Thermador produced Thermador security badges and other artifacts from leftover metals used in the manufacturing of appliances. 1950 - THE FIRST "PRO" RANGE Thermador introduced the first "Pro" Range, a 48" stainless steel 6 burner with Dual Ovens. 1957 - STAINLESS AND COLOR KITCHEN Thermador introduced "Stainless & Color" Kitchen styling. Stainless was paired with five popular colors. 1950s

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