| By :
Mark Etinger
According to their official website, Sub Zero has "pioneered innovative, aesthetically appealing and technologically advanced solutions to meet virtually any home refrigeration need" for over 60 years. It was during the Great Depression that a man by the name of Westye F. Bakke created specially designed refrigeration units for Frank Lloyd Wright. It was during his time working for Wright that Bakke acquired the information he would use in 1943 when he built the first ever free-standing freezer in the basement of his home in Wisconsin. Bakke built the original kitchen appliance with the intention of using it store the doses of insulin his young son Bud required to fight his juvenile diabetes. Two years later, on August 20th of 1945, Bakke founded the Sub-Zero Freezer Company, a creator of discount kitchen appliances. Bakke chose the name because his free standing refrigeration units were the first freezers that met the then-strict quality standards for below-zero safety. In just a few short years, Bakke's company began mass producing their Sub Zero appliances, which included state-of-the-art freezers that stood upright. It was the first company in the entire industry that produced and sold appliances that were all-aluminum and had separate inside doors. The up-right model became so popular that be the end of the decade, the company no longer produced the original chest models. By the 1950's, Bud Bakke (Westye's younger son who's juvenile diabetes inspired the first free-standing freezer) had received his degree from the University of Wisconsin and begun creating Sub Zero appliances that would help expand the company's brand. It was around this time that Sub Zero appliances became not just about effectiveness, but style as well. Sub-Zero became the first refrigeration company to offer freezers with wood grain, metal tone, and color schemes for customization purposes. These new, personable zub zero appliances had such success that the company continued focusing on customization. In the 1960s, Sub Zero released refrigeration units that doubled as furniture items such as office credenzas, living room tables and bar counters. This caused the greatest flourish in the Sub-Zero company history, as the sales figures increase ten-fold by the 1970s. Continuing the family tradition, Bud Bakke's son Jim joined the Sub Zero company during the early part of the 1980s. It was around this time that Sub Zero expanded, adding a second production plant in Arizona to better supply the west coast markets. At the turn of the millennium, Sub Zero made its biggest acquisition ever when they acquired Wolf Gourmet in March of 2000. The merger is seen as a perfect match, combining "Sub-Zero's timeless dedication to quality with Wolf's commitment to superior cooking." Since the acquisition, Sub Zero Freezer company has become "the ultimate in cooking instruments for serious, passionate cooks."
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