What is the Appliance Industry Afraid Of? The question many of us kitchen designers ask is: what oven works best? Or, what cooktop, refrigerator, dishwasher. . .? In other words, how does the consumer find out what’s the best appliance? There are showrooms that allow the consumer to come in and cook or clean to see if they like that specific product. That’s just not good enough. What this industry needs is an eastern, mid-western, and western test center that allows us to compare many brands simultaneously. This exists in the world of commercial appliances. Since I do commercial Kitchen Design, as well as residential, I find myself in those test kitchens often. I would like to see the appliance industry, especially in the area of ranges and cooktops, build better products across the range of price points; there is nothing that works well in the lower-end marketplace.
