There are just a few days left to nominate a remarkable individual for induction into the Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame. Submissions close this Thursday, Sept. 30.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
The K&B industry has always given birth to amazing products, technologies, design trends and other elements to enhance the safety, comfort, beauty and function of the two most important rooms in the house. And it’s been the people with the pens who help spread the word about these innovations, and who have contributed to the giant marketing machine that has built this $170 billion industry.
Since the NKBA created the Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame in 1989, more than 90 outstanding individuals have been recognized for their creative thinking, service to the industry, marketing prowess and other unique contributions. Today’s honorees come from the world of media.
Nominations for the Class of 2022 are being accepted through Sept. 30, and inductees will be honored at KBIS in Orlando on Feb. 7 at The Kitchen & Bath Design + Industry Awards, the evening before the expo opens. Registration for the show, which will be held live Feb. 8-10 at the Orange County Convention Center, is open. NKBA members enjoy free registration for the month of September, and non-members may take advantage of discounted rates.
Here are a few of the scribes who have been recognized for their gift of words.
- Eliot Sefrin is the founding editor of Kitchen & Bath Design News, which has served K&B trade professionals for more than 35 years. Through his guidance, KBDN has helped shape, define and educate an expanding kitchen and bath industry marked by growth, new forms of competition and an increased emphasis on design and style. In the process, the magazine has helped raise the professionalism and profitability of its monthly readership. Inducted in 2008.
- Brothers Lawrence and Milton Gralla were the first to recognize the existence of a kitchen industry and to start a magazine for it, Kitchen Business, in 1955. They were instrumental in development of the National Kitchen & Bath Conference and Kitchen & Bath Industry Show — which is now owned by NKBA and the most comprehensive show devoted to this industry in North America. Inducted in 1989.
- Patrick J. Galvin, retired publisher and editor of Kitchen & Bath Business magazine (now KBB), was inducted as the man who shaped the industry with his aggressive insistence on better showrooms, better profit, support for independent distributors and movement by dealers into bathroom remodeling. He was the voice of the industry, an ardent supporter of all industry associations, and has promoted professionally designed kitchens and baths in consumer magazines and a dozen consumer books. Inducted in 1989.
- B. Leslie Hart has made a significant contribution to the kitchen and bath industry through her magazine editorials. Hart recognized the growth of the bath segment of the business and its importance to kitchen dealers, and renamed Kitchen Business magazine as Kitchen & Bath Business, expanding coverage and encouraging kitchen dealers and industry professionals to diversify. She also encouraged professionalism in the industry, and successfully communicated that professionalism to the general public. Inducted in 2000.
- Don and Kasnea Martin created Kasmar Publications, publishers of Designer Kitchens & Bath, Designer Baths, The Kitchen Collection and Kitchens magazines. After attending their first industry conference in 1979, they bought Appliance and Kitchen Retailing magazine and in just six years, parlayed it into publishing several successful West Coast-based trade journals. Inducted in 2004.
- Maxine Livingston, consumer editor for Building Supply Home Centers magazine, consistently promoted kitchen and bath products as marketable and profitable to this important distribution channel. Her enthusiasm and energy were legendary, as she attended every trade show she could to deliver complete reports to her readers. Inducted in 1989.
All members of the Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame are featured in a special gallery online as well as at NKBA’s headquarters in Hackettstown, N.J. Hall of Famers have been featured throughout the month. Click to read about inventors, educators, cabinetry specialists, plumbing specialists still more inventors, and those who have served the association, or visit the Hall online.
Nominate an outstanding individual for this honor by this Thursday, Sept. 30. For guidelines, click here.
