Archive for September, 2009

Three international superstars in kitchen design – Poggenpohl kitchen cabinets, Miele appliances and BLANCO sinks/faucets have teamed up to outfit world renowned chef, Eric Ripert for the launch of his first solo TV series on PBS stations, AVEC ERIC.

“I am thrilled to have Poggenpohl, Miele and Blanco associated with my show, and thank them for their generous support of AVEC ERIC,” states Eric Ripert.  Ripert’s kitchen plays an important part in his creative process and is truly a reflection of his holistic approach to food and lifestyle.

Eric Ripert, chef of Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City and fan favorite guest judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” stars in his own 10-episode series airing nationally now on PBS stations (check local listings).  AVEC ERIC is co-produced by Anomaly and A La Carte Communications and was directed by Emmy-winning director Geoffrey Drummond. In each episode Chef Ripert guides viewers through a culinary journey to where he finds his sources of inspiration. Shot on location around the world, each show returns to his home kitchen where Ripert translates the inspiration gained from his travels into dishes that home cooks could make themselves – all in stunning surroundings and with high performance tools of the trade.

About Poggenpohl

The white laminate Poggenpohl cabinetry selected for the show provides a clean, modern look, maximum storage and maintains Ripert’s vision for an eco-friendly space. The main island and seating area extends the social and entertainment aspects of the kitchen. Open cabinets and shelving areas provide effortless access to seasonings and tools. Poggenpohl kitchen designers worked closely with Ripert to integrate a countertop where the butcher block surrounds and is flush with the cooktop surface, for a more streamlined cooking process. Established in 1892, Poggenpohl is the world’s oldest kitchen cabinet brand and is available in more than 60 countries. Poggenpohl is the world’s leading luxury kitchen cabinet brand with 13 showrooms and 20 dealers across the United States. www.poggenpohl.com

About Miele

Miele MasterChef Collection™ cooking appliances have long been a favorite of both chefs and novices for their high performance, stunningly clean design and ease-of-use. Ripert’s kitchen includes a convection oven, speed oven, warming drawer and induction cooktop. In addition to these exceptional elements, the kitchen also boasts two Miele dishwashers plus an Independence Series refrigerator and wine storage unit. The refrigeration and wine storage come equipped with RemoteVision™ technology so Miele can alert Ripert if something goes wrong (say a door left open) while he’s on location. Founded in 1899 with a single promise of Immer Besser, a German phrase meaning Forever Better, Miele has dynamically grown to become the world’s largest family-owned appliance company with over 16,000 employees in 44 countries. www.miele.com

About BLANCO

BLANCO sinks and faucets are known for their artistry, durability and array of eye-catching designs. Ripert’s sink of choice is the PRECISION™ 16” R10 Single Bowl – a sophisticated, handcrafted sink made by BLANCO’s exclusive STEELART® division. The 10mm rounded corner radius is flawlessly smooth with an uncompromised attention to detail. A unique satin polished finish with exacting drain grooves complete the beautiful design for easy-to-clean functionality. The KONTROLE faucet sleekly hides a pull-down spray in its elegant pillar design. For three generations, BLANCO has quietly and passionately elevated the standards for luxury sinks, faucets and decorative accessories. Proud of its European heritage and award-winning German engineering, BLANCO is steadfastly committed to their tradition of high quality, innovative design and unsurpassed service since 1925. www.blancoamerica.com

BLANCO buzz continued on a hot pace all summer long with hits in major media outlets.  Year-to-date BLANCO has earned over 41 million impressions! Please share the PR results during customer visits. We have a great story to tell and it’s one that is highly relevant to both home editors and consumers.

Below, please enjoy our latest public relations hits from Better Homes & Gardens, K+BB, Retail Observer, Just Luxe and Builder News. ARCON™, FLOW™ and SILGRANIT® are just some of the new products making headlines. Share with your clients and help them display these hot sinks!

Better Homes and Gardens featured ARCON in their Stainless round up.

The editors at K+BB featured SILGRANIT II.

FLOW as featured in Retail Observer.

This trend story has appeared in newspapers and online, including Just Luxe.

ARCON was selected for Builder News.

Designer Marie Aiello with BLANCO products in Dexter's kitchen.

BLANCO is the featured sink and faucet in Dexter’s kitchen, designed by Marie Aiello Design Studio, LLC – as part of Metropolitan Home’s Showtime House in Tribeca, NY. The Showtime House is a New York must-see fall design event and a stunning tribute to Showtime’s popular shows, i.e. Dexter, Weeds, The Tudors, etc. The showhouse features top name designers and brands who go “all-out” to fashion spectacular interior and exterior spaces for each show. (BTW: Dexter is a forensic blood splatter expert with the Miami police department. Beneath his outside calm and meticulous exterior lies a serial killer who hunts down and murders criminals who have escaped the clutches of the justice system.)

Designer, Marie Aiello comments on her design for the Dexter Kitchen:

“I selected BLANCO products for their elegance in design, simplicity – in form and quality,” states Aiello. BLANCO’s latest PERFORMA sink, PRECISION and ZIROS faucets plus a QUADRIS soap dispenser are among the products featured in the kitchen and bar area.

“The inspiration for the kitchen design was Dexter himself, of course!” states Aiello. “In virtually every episode we see Dexter in his kitchen eating. He is a man who loves food so I wanted to create a space specifically for him that would be visually interesting and is also a nod to his character and sense of humor. For example, the overall concept of the Dexter space is that beautiful things are made from broken pieces (like Dexter; beautiful on the outside, broken on the inside.)  So the first glance of the kitchen is absolute elegance and beauty, but a closer look tells something different.  The upper cabinets cleverly appear to be breaking out or jutting out of the corner. In addition, I challenged the typical island design and created a shape that bows to Dester’s favorite tool: the butcher’s knife! It’s not an obvious rendition of a cleaver, but when you look closely at this beautiful structure, you see what it is! It’s Dexter’s own private joke.”

Other materials used include cherry cabinetry, stainless steel ovens by Miele, CaesarStone countertops and backsplash consisting of Thassos, Carrera Marble and Bordiglio Natural Stones.

About the Showtime House

Metropolitan Home’s Showtime House will celebrate its second season with twin penthouses located in the luxurious Tribeca Summit building. Top designers transformed 14,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor spaces into stunning masterpieces of design, with the Showtime original series as their inspirations. It will be open on weekends for public tours Sept. 12 – Oct. 18, and tickets will sell for $20 each, with all proceeds from the ticket sales benefiting the non-profit organization Housing Works. www.pointclickhome.com/showtime2009

About Marie Aiello

Marie Aiello dove into the interior design world while living in Paris and studying art and design. This rising design star has a portfolio filled with the homes of influential entertainment and music execs and corporate CEOs in some of New York City’s hottest locations. The enigmatic Showtime House returns Aiello to her roots – she actually began her career as a Hollywood film producer. www.ma-ds.com

BLANCO's Performa Sink and Precision Faucet. (Will Dexter really clean his "knives" here?)

The island is reminiscent of a carving knife.

The stunning integrated bar area features a Ziros faucet.

The New SILGRANIT II Chip Display. All the colors, all the benefits... right at your fingertips.

BLANCO’s NEW SILGRANIT® II chip displays have been re-designed with an eye-catching look that clearly states the innovative benefits of  SILGRANIT II including:

• Acid Resistant
• Non-Fading
• Heat Resistant
• Stain Resistant
• Scratch Resistant
• Easy to Clean

The board also touts BLANCO SILGRANIT II’s Look (5 classic colors, 22 shapes and sizes), Feel (smooth as silk) and Durability (you can’t scratch, chip, burn or stain it).

The new displays were designed to have a longer shelf life – we did not print the color names directly onto the display – the individual chips are labeled with the color names. This will allow us more flexibility when introducing a new chip color in the future.

MicroEdge wins 100 Best New Product Award.

BLANCO is the proud recipient of  Professional Builder’s 100 Best New Products Award. Blanco is awarded this top honor for its brilliantly sleek MicroEdge sink technology. MicroEdge’s unique, ultra fine rim gives this top-mounted sink a flush look that’s easy to install and to keep clean.

Professional Builder’s 100 Best New Products Award recognizes the most noteworthy new products introduced each year. The editors’ choices are based on technological advancement, significant product improvement, new product line introduction and increasing the competition of a product line. All of the winning products are featured in the September issue of Professional Builder.

“We are honored to receive the Professional Builder’s award,” says Tim Maicher, Director of Marketing for BLANCO, Inc.  “Being recognized in such a way is truly humbling and further strengthens our on-going commitment towards excellence. Our MicroEdge sink is the first breakthrough in stainless steel sink design since the introduction of the undermount sinks more than 10 years ago – and to be awarded by Professional Builder for all our hard work is an achievement we are grateful for.”

About MicroEdge Technology:

MicroEdge’s unique ultrafine (1.25mm) rim gives this sink its near seamless edge – an exacting finish so demanding, only BLANCO could make it a reality. Expressed with brilliant precision, MicroEdge elevates the sink to a stunning centerpiece, the perfect way to accentuate the richness of dramatic stone, warm wood or other dynamic surfaces. MicroEdge top-mounted sinks can be positioned easily and secured with mounting clips or alternatively, can be installed as a traditional flushmounted sink by an experienced solid surface specialist. Available in a wide range of 17 sink styles in four design families, MicroEdge retails starting at $850.

Craig Iverson performing the SILGRANIT II Challenge at K/BIS 2009.

Architectural Design Sales, based in Denver and Salt Lake City, is viewed as a leading specification firm within the Rocky Mountain Markets. One of the keys to their success is that half of their time is spent training showroom staff to specify their client’s products, with another 30% of their time devoted to architects on project work (like their tremendous placement with the Four Seasons Private Residences that will be in a future blog story!) and the remaining 20% with commercial/distributor sales people. We asked Craig Iverson, Principle, Architectural Design Sales, to provide his insights on Successful Sales Practices.

Q: Describe the sales tactics you find are most successful in your market.

A: We target each market channel in a unique way. First, we identify the key influencers, i.e. multi-unit inner city architects and interior design firms and we maintain communications with every contact. We don’t take the wholesales for granted either since they are always changing. We know the showroom sales staff for both residential and commercial and we make sure we keep them updated and informed. We make ourselves available for “counter days” and events. For the decorative kitchen & bath showrooms, we recognize that it requires a large investment in time and training designed to meet their clients’ needs and expectations. This is a competitive environment for branded products – especially to obtain key display positions – and YES, we are pushy for space and update meetings. We position ourselves as an asset to every sales person, a trusted partner they can rely upon. To enhance this strategy, we join industry associations including the AIA, ASID, NKBA and DPHA.

Q: In what ways does your team interact with customers in order to drive sales?

A: What Works: Become a trusted partner with each decision maker to support their efforts and attain joint goals, but also be aware that you will not “win them all” – even though you can win most. What Does Not Work: If you lack sincerity in your business relationship. Specifiers and end users have many choices. You have to really want to work with your clients to be at the top of their list ongoing.

Q: Where do you see the market going in the next 6 months?

A: We are focused on select opportunities in all channels. Sure, there aren’t as many as one-two years ago, but they are in play. Gross profits are very important, more so than in past years. We really think the coming six months will be every bit as challenging as the past 12 months. Sales are going to be limited to the individual event (one to eight units per specification). For the near future, holiday budgets and household commitments will constrict plans of renewal resulting in cool business conditions. April to May should be the business wake up time frame for pent-up renewals.

Maintaining and expanding current accounts is critical for success. Quality name brands, like BLANCO, will survive with consistent attention. We see SILGRANIT® II is the core product to keep our business moving forward for the near future recovery.

About Architectural Design Sales

Architectural Design Sales was established in 1984 and has four full time sales associates. The principle is Craig Iverson and their territory includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. http://www.archdesignsales.com/