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UPDATE: GADGET OF THE MONTH: SERENDIPITY: OUTDOOR DÉCOR DEXAS FOR THE PATIO SEE PAGE 23 SEE PAGE 11 SEE PAGE 19 K ITCHENWARE NEWS H o u s e w, a r e s R e v i e w S E RV I N G K I T C H E N WA R E VOLUME 20,1NUMBER 2 10 VOL UME 9, N UMBER FEBRUARY 2014 n $7.00 SMALL ELECTRICS n PAGE 9 n Ergo Chef 10 HOUSEWARES SHOW PREVIEW n PAGE 15 RETAILER PROFILE n PAGE 18 SERENDIPITY n WineO 19 GIFTWARE n Gift Basket Ideas PAGE 22 GADGET OF THE MONTH n Dexas Bridal Registries Ring Up Strong Sales For Home Suppliers BY DONNA BOYLE SCHWARTZ THE KNIFE RACK PAGE 23 News..............................................3 Ad Index .......................................23 www.kitchenwarenews.com H O M E D E C O R A N D G I F T WA R E M A R K E T S Here comes the bride…and right down the aisle with her comes a large amount of disposable income in the form of wedding gifts from family and friends. The best way for retailers to tap into that huge pool of potential sales remains the bridal registry, and both retailers and manufacturers are taking a new look at how to keep registries robust. There are an estimated 2.2 million weddings in the United States every year, according to the U.S. Census Department; and more than 88 percent of engaged couples in the U.S. set up a bridal registry, according to The Knot Inc., the parent company of two leading wedding websites, TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com. According The Knot survey, an engaged couple registers for an average of 151 items, with the most popular registry pieces being bakeware, registered by 91 percent of couples; and kitchen appliances/electrics, registered by 90 percent of couples. Most couples register at an average of three retailers, with leaders Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Macy's representing 70percent of primary bridal registries. Housewares and home fashions suppliers assert that being part of a couple's bridal registry can help ensure a loyal customer for life. "At World Kitchen we believe that bridal and gift registries are very important; the individuals who participate in these programs usually are at a 'life changing,' The soft recovery of the housing industry along with a growing trend in favor of entertaining at home are leading many Americans to consider refurbishing their kitchens with brighter colors and spiffier kitchenware, and housewares manufacturers are offering them more colorful options to coordinate with brighter home decor. "More and more people are infusing splashes of color into all facets of their lives. From their clothes and sunglasses they wear to the phones they carry and the cars they drive, and now that trend is taking on a larger presence in people's homes," says Zak Designs Chairman and CEO Irv Zakheim. "The trend of bringing more color into homes initially began with people accenting their kitchens and tables with bright, bold colors in their tableware, small appliances, and kitchen prep items." The Icona collection from De'Longhi expresses that trend in a collection of small appliances from the Wisconsin Dells, a summer playground for the entire Midwest. "We're the daytime getaway for the Dells folks," Stelling says. "People like to get away from that when the water parks get to be too much for them. We're something different." Baraboo is also just five minutes away from Devil's Lake State Park, which draws about 4 million visitors a year, making it the busiest state part in the country; Mirror Lake State Park, Continued on PAGE 18 Continued on PAGE 9 Continued on PAGE 6 that includes an espresso machine, tea kettle and toaster. With suggested retail prices ranging from $99.95-$199.95, the line is designed to add a touch of class, elegance and creativity to kitchen appliances. Kenwood is also offering small appliances to cater to the home entertaining trend, among them the Chef KMC010, a versatile kitchen machine designed for an excellent cook who wants a high performance kitchen machine Continued on PAGE 17 Bekah Kate's: at Home in the Heartland BY LORRIE BAUMANN It is axiomatic that the kitchen is the heart of the home; the logical corollary is that therefore the kitchenware store may be the heart of a community. If you remember your high school geometry lessons, you will know that from the axiom and the corollary flows the proof, and for that, I give you Bekah Kate's in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Bekah Kate's is the namesake of Bekah Stelling, who opened the store 10 years ago in the historic downtown square of a town that's best known as the original winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. With a population of about 12,000 people, Baraboo is still the home of the Circus World Museum, which has the largest library of circus information in the United States. It's the county seat of Sauk County, Wisc., and it's just 10 minutes away BY LORRIE BAUMANN The Panasonic SB-ZB2502 Bread Maker  with its  Yeast and Raisin and Nut Dispenser will not be on the market until 2016, but it made its bow this year at the 2014 International  CES. The  bread maker  includes a gluten-free mode and 27 pre-set menu options. It doesn't extract the gluten, so if you put gluten in, you're going to get gluten out, but if you're using gluten-free ingredients to start with, this breadmaker will bake the bread so that the gluten-free ingredients turn out their best. "This is the Rolls Royce of bread makers," says Panasonic's product manager Nick Monaco. Panasonic has bread makers that will dispense nuts and raisins or the yeast already on the market, but this will be the first to do both. The suggested retail price is expected to be $299, and it's expected to be ready for shipment in January 2016. Also introduced at CES was the NC-ZA1 Fully Automatic Coffee Maker, which has a color touch screen operation, six preset menu options and the spacesaving rectangular styling that Panasonic does so beautifully. Its water tank, waste container and brewing unit are all front-loaded, and Panasonic promises easy cleaning. Suggested retail price will be $1,199, and it'll be on the market in 2015, with shipments available in the spring. The Netchef G2 is a handy Bright Colors Come to the Kitchen BY LORRIE BAUMANN Electronic Devices for the Connected Cook Unveiled at International CES

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