Luxe Fisher & Paykel Appliances Appeal in LA
“If you have a ‘Kitchen Porn’ board on Pinterest, and your idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon is drooling over showpiece ranges and luxe dishwashing drawers, then welcome to your new favourite place to go,” Bonnie McCarthy writes for the Los Angeles Times in an article recommending the new Fisher & Paykel Experience Center in Costa Mesa, Orange County.
“Best of all,” McCarthy says, “it won’t cost you a thing.”
“In the sleek, contemporary lobby of the new Fisher & Paykel Experience Center, visitors are welcomed with a cup of New Zealand’s famous kawakawa green tea and a tradition of kiwi hospitality. The thinking: If you can’t get to New Zealand, the famed high-end luxury appliance company will bring their products and the culture that inspires them to you. (How high end? There are no prices on the website.)
“The experiential showroom is designed to introduce builders, designers and consumers to the Fisher & Paykel brand through an immersive, sensorial experience by exploring the appliances in modern kitchen vignettes, attending cooking demonstrations and product training, and tasting New Zealand-inspired food, or kai, prepared by the centre’s full-time chef, Rob Wilson.
“At the heart of the both the showroom and the company philosophy is the Social Kitchen, an open space with a large communal table and well-designed culinary work spaces that encourage relaxed, informal gathering and socialisation.
“‘Most people in North America know us for our refrigeration and for our DishDrawers,’ said showroom manager Gina Lathrum, referencing the refrigeration solutions and dishwashing drawers that have earned the company accolades, ‘what they don’t know is the depth of cooking products we have available, and the different sizes and configurations.’
“With an ambitious eye toward competing in the crowded premium market space alongside brands like Wolf, Sub-Zero, Thermador and Viking, the Center will showcase 108 appliances from Fisher & Paykel and the company’s outdoor kitchen collection, DCS. Products not physically available on site can be viewed virtually via life-size, interactive digital screens.”
Fisher & Paykel Experience Centers are also located in New York, Sydney, Toronto, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
Fisher & Paykel was founded in New Zealand in 1934 by Sir Woolf Fisher and Maurice Paykel.
Original article by Bonnie McCarthy, Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2018.
Photo by Allen Schaben.
