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UPDATE: PRODYNE BEVERAGEWARE SEE PAGE 20 BUYERS GUIDE: ZING ANYTHING SEE PAGE 20 THE KNIFE RACK ERGO CHEF SEE PAGE 22 H o u s e w a r e s R e v i e w KITCHENWARE NEWS S E R V I N G K I T C H E N W A R E, H O M E D E C O R A N D G I F T W A R E M A R K E T S V O L U M E 1 9 , N U M B E R 1 0 SMALL ELECTRICS n Food Preservation Appliances PAGE 17 THE KNIFE RACK n Shun Dual Core PAGE 22 GOURMET GOODIES n Gluten-Free Foods PAGE 18 RETAILING FEATURE n Bridal Gift Registry PAGE 14 NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO WEST PREVIEW n Show Events PAGE 15 GADGET OF THE MONTH n Zoku Character Pops PAGE 23 News ..............................................3 Ad Index .......................................23 www.kitchenwarenews.com VOLUME 21, NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY 2015 n $7.00 BY AMBER GALLEGOS Although the International Home + Housewares Show is still a month away, the trend of products focused on healthy eating has already emerged as one that will be seen throughout the market. The focus is not entirely new; rather, is it a continuing development that also includes eating f resh foods and sourcing ingredients locally. "O verall there's still a movement in healthy eating. A lot more focus on using organic flavors in your cooking, as well as fresh made spices for flavoring, using the local elements, that sort Kitchenware Outfitters: The Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name Continued on PAGE 4 Continued on PAGE 10 Continued on PAGE 11 Continued on PAGE 4 BY LORRIE BAUMANN Brad McDonald, General Manager for Gygi, is toying with the idea of someday opening a second location somewhere in metropolitan Phoenix. That seems only fitting since his Salt Lake City kitchen store has already risen f rom the ashes once, so a Phoenix is clearly something these folks know about. Gygi was founded by Gygi: Up From the Ashes and Burning Bright in Salt Lake City Magic Chef Brand Looks to Rejuvenate in 2015 Healthy Eating Focus Continues at This Year's Housewares Show Orson H. Gygi, McDonald's grandfather, in 1945, when the American economy was just getting back on its feet after World War II. Gygi had been a sales manager for a restaurant supply company and had decided to start out on his own, going f rom door-to- door at restaurants and selling f rom his car trunk. "He built everything we have today with a lot of hard work and dedication," says McDonald. "My grandfather had very little inventory but he built his business by sacrificing a lot for the business and his family. He lived a f rugal lifestyle and lived by the philosophy that if we can't pay cash for it, we don't need it." Orson Gygi gradually built up his modest door-to-door business to open a wholesale restaurant supply store where, eventually, his of thing is still going to be a trend," says Carter McGuyer, an award winning housewares designer. "It 's really sourcing locally, sourcing fresh. That is still a huge trend I don't see really going away for the next couple of years." The Carter McGuyer Design Group has most recently teamed up with Tailor Made Products to create Crisp™, a new line of 27 food preparation tools. Nearly two years in development, Crisp tools are designed with f ruits and vegetables in mind and contoured handles and angled blades are engineered to save time while making the experience more enjoyable. Produce-focused gadgets include the Herb Mincer, which can both strip herbs f rom the stem and mince them with a rolling motion of the five stainless steel blades, and the Corn Stripper, a two-in-one corn tool with a brush for silk removal and a curved stainless steel blade to remove multiple rows of corn at a time. "We focused on the f ruit and BY LORRIE BAUMANN The makers of Magic Chef kitchen appliances are planning for new growth this year f rom old roots. Attendees at this spring's International Home + Housewares Show will be among the first to see some of the new products with which MC Appliances, the brand's parent company, is planning to reinvigorate a brand more familiar to Baby Boomers than to the Millennial generation. This year will see Magic Chef expanding into new categories through licensing partners and in-house product development, said Kristin Affatato, Magic Chef 's Director of Marketing and Brand Management. These will be new, exciting products for us, according to Affatato, who declined to be more specific at this early date. "You're going to be seeing some other categories f rom us in 2015. We're hoping to be able to showcase them at IHHS," she said. Over the next year or so, we can expect to see Magic Chef introducing new microwave oven models, since that's an existing core competency for the company. W hat we won't see is small appliances that are loaded down with functions that most consumers won't use and don't want to pay for, trendy designs or oddball colors. Instead, Magic Chef will appeal to the comfortable familiarity that many consumers feel with a brand that's been around since 1929. "The 85- year-old brand resonates with consumers, and keeping it relevant is our priority. The brand recognition is with the older generation, but we are seeing more and more Millennials turning to the brand because it plays so well in the existing BY AMBER GALLEGOS How does a kitchenware store go f rom being just another retail shop to the place where everybody knows your name? For Kitchenware O utfitters in Savannah, Georgia, it involves a decade-long presence of quality products, with the exceptional customer service to back it up. It certainly doesn't hurt to offer cooking classes, in-store food demos, f ree soup, charity knife sharpening events, cookouts, a quarterly newsletter and an active social media presence. When husband and wife David and Barbara Freeman discovered they were going to be a part of corporate reorganizations, they looked for a business opportunity that would allow them to remain in Savannah. David hoped for an ice cream shop, but Barbara thought about her waistline and thought it might be better to use her experience as the chief financial officer for Le Creuset. David came f rom the world of corporate sales, but a retail kitchenware store was a definite transition for both of them.

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