Adding Value

Whether entertaining, raising a family or using the home as a weekend sanctuary, today’s upscale consumers are all about enjoying a lifestyle that promotes luxury, comfort and convenience. So it’s no surprise that appliances that add value to the home experience are being viewed as hot, hot, hot.

Indeed, nothing adds sizzle to the home environment like specialty appliances. After all, a multi-zone wine chiller, built-in coffeemaker or pizza oven not only adds upscale appeal and convenience, it also helps to create uniquely personalized design, cooking and entertaining options.

Specialty appliances are all about having something special. Designers have long known that consumers will pay for the little luxuries that make their life easier and their home life more enjoyable. But today’s specialty appliances go beyond the products themselves to incorporate a whole new trend that promotes design flexibility, inhibits clutter and promotes entertaining in the home.

Lifestyle Appliances

According to manufacturers recently surveyed by Kitchen & Bath Design News, consumers want options when it comes to their appliances. It’s those options that help define a home and the lifestyle within.

“Specialty kitchen appliances are often considered entertainment or lifestyle appliances that are generally new to the market and targeted for consumers who know what’s right for their lifestyle,” says John Swenson, director of brand marketing for the Electrolux Group in Augusta, GA. These may have to do with the type of product (a built-in espresso machine) or a new take on an old product (an in-sink or countertop dishwasher, a microwave tucked into an oven drawer).

Jeff Wimberly, director of sales and marketing/residential products for Perlick Corp. in Milwaukee, WI, takes it a step further. Wimberly believes that a specialty appliance is one “you wouldn’t normally see in a kitchen.” He adds it’s “an appliance that can be customized to fit the needs of the room, such as a two- or three-door [refrigeration] unit with multiple temperature zones, or an appliance with features such as martini glass chilling racks in a freezer.”

Of course, specialty appliances are most popular in the kitchen, but demand is also increasing for them in entertainment and family rooms, in master bedroom suites and in outdoor kitchens. Swenson adds that specialty appliances are “often the fast-starters in trends.” Why wouldn’t they be? They add value: form, function, convenience and fun to any design theme.”

Why So Special?

Just what exactly is driving the demand for specialty appliances? It seems that everyone these days wants to make a statement. Wimberly thinks that among upscale consumers, “there is a desire to have what nobody else has.” That theory fits the profile of the design-conscious consumer. It’s the savvy upscale consumer who also wants to customize, individualize and personalize. And these consumers rely on savvy design professionals to bring them the newest, most innovative products to create truly unique spaces that work for the way they live.

“Consumers,” says Chris Kaeser, president, sales/marketing for U81/Ariston Appliances in Las Vegas, NV, “are looking for better, more beautiful ways to conquer their desires and needs.” Kaeser adds that competition is driving manufacturers to be innovative in meeting these needs. “Increased offerings by new manufacturers that offer new opportunities and styles that the typical brands do not” are helping drive demand, he adds.

According to Gerry Reda, senior v.p./sales for AGA Appliance Group, in Cherry Hill, NJ, people are more involved in home-based activities these days. This, she says, “is manifested by elaborate kitchens, outdoor living areas and entertaining areas in the home. Specialty appliances made for a specific purpose or application support these home-based activities. Most homes have at least one area devoted to home-based activities and many have three or four.”