Go ahead, turn on the oven. Modesto store debuts new showroom with live test kitchens

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then Direct Appliance is doing everything it can to make yours healthy, happy and very, very handsome.

The Modesto company, which specializes in home appliances and kitchen renovations, has moved and expanded to a brand new showroom and headquarters. Though they didn’t move far, just next door to a larger building on McHenry Avenue. Now they’re ready to show off with a grand opening ceremony and celebration this weekend.

Founded more than 20 years ago, the store has tripled in size in its new space. Owners Ron and Colleen Winter have taken full advantage of their bigger size by doubling the number of live test kitchens in its showroom and expanding its demonstration and class schedule.

“People used to come in and say ‘It’s so beautiful’ about our showroom before, but this is even bigger and more magnificent,” said Colleen Winter. “We’ve got big plans for the place.”

The move has also increased the company’s product line. They’ve added mattresses from the popular Tempur-Pedic and Sealy brands. They’ve upped their lineup of plumbing inventory for kitchen and bathroom sinks. And they’ve started selling products from high-end European appliance companies Gaggenau and Smeg.

Direct Appliance and its partner company Direct Flooring & Home have been offering full-service kitchen and bathroom design and renovation services for the past five years. But, as the saying goes, seeing is believing.

So the new live kitchens were designed and built entirely in-house, showing off their capabilities. The store will have close to 10 live kitchens, where customers can touch and try appliances in a working test setting. Each area is dedicated to a particular brand, from KitchenAid to Jenn-Air, Wolf and Viking.

“Everything you see in here, we did it — from the appliances to the countertops to the cabinets and flooring,” said Ron Winter.

The shop will also continue to host Modesto Junior College culinary classes, as it’s done for the past 15 years, in its new spacious, dedicated demo kitchen. A number of public cooking events are already planned in the new showroom.

Direct Appliance was started in 1995 by Jack and Cyl Ugar. Winter and another longtime employee (who has since retired from the business) took over the store in 2002 after Jack Ugar passed away. And since then, the Winters have grown the company steadily. In 2008, they started their partnership with Direct Flooring & Home, owned by partner Samuel Garrett.

For more than a year, they’ve been looking for another, larger location. When the space next door – which used to house ACI Career College – became available, they jumped at the chance. They began moving into the new space three months ago and are still working on completing some of their test kitchen displays.

Direct Appliance is the only area retailer for appliances from the German-company Gaggenau, a brand so exclusive it chooses which retailers will sell its products instead of the other way around. Still, while a refrigerator from Gaggenau can run upward of $10,000, Ron Winter stressed that their store sells products for a wide spectrum of income levels. They also have an outlet store, Direct Outlet, which carries discontinued or dinged-up products on K Street off downtown Modesto.

The grand opening celebration for the new Direct Appliance showroom will run through this weekend with live demonstrations, food and prizes as well as deals on various products. The store, at 2412 McHenry Ave., is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information on Direct Appliance, call 209-238-3000 or visit www.directappliance.com.

Elsewhere on the Business Beat:

If you think you’re seeing Dollar Generals popping up everywhere, it’s probably because Dollar Generals are indeed popping up everywhere.

The discount retail chain, which has aggressively expanded in the region in the last few years, has opened a new location in La Grange. The grand opening for the store will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and includes giveaways for the first 200 shoppers as well as prizes and special deals all day. Dollar General has 18 stores in the region, including four in Modesto.

The new store is at 14370 Las Palmas Way in La Grange. For more information, visit www.dollargeneral.com.

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 3:19 PM.