LG Electronics USA Inc opened its first luxury kitchen showroom in the United States to boost sales and enhance its brand presence in the home appliances sector. The Experience & Design Center is located at the heart of the North America’s wine capital, Napa Valley. The Northern Californian city attracts numerous connoisseur and gourmet visitors from all around the world, and LG aims to reach potential consumers through its overseas flagship venue.
LG strategically chose Napa Valley as the location for its first overseas kitchenware showroom to penetrate the built-in kitchen appliance sector, traditionally dominated by European and American manufacturers. The main attraction of the exhibit is the Signature Kitchen Suite, LG’s newest luxury built-in kitchen appliance brand. Product lineup includes luxury household electronics such as refrigerators, wall ovens, cooktops, and microwaves. Along with launching the Experience & Design Center, LG has installed Signature Kitchen Suite appliances at the local campus of the Culinary Institute of America to establish a top-notch luxury brand reputation.
Napa Valley is located in the fifth congressional district of California, which encompasses Napa County along with portions of Contra Costa, Lake, Solano, and Sonoma Counties. The South Korean household appliance manufacturer invested an estimated amount of just under $10 million in the district, which has no previous record of investments from South Korea.
Based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, LG electronics USA Inc is the North American subsidiary of South Korea’s $48.5 billion LG Electronics. As global producer of not only household appliances but also consumer electronics and telecommunication devices, the company is taking concrete steps to heighten its brand recognition and ramp-up household appliance sales in the United States. Earlier last month, at CES 2019, the company presented its new lineup of kitchenware that includes dishwashers and home beer brewing machines. LG broke ground to build a $250 million home appliance factory in Clarksville, Tennessee. Since December 2018, construction has been completed and the plant is now in full operation, creating 600 new full-time jobs for the state. Furthermore, the subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate has invested millions of dollars in the United States, operating a solar panel plant in Alabama and a vehicle component factory in Michigan, creating 452 new jobs between them. Later this year, the company is projected to complete the construction of its new $300 million North American headquarters in New Jersey which will employ up to 1,000 staff members.
Brian Kim is participant of the Young Professionals Program at the East-West Center in Washington. He holds a master's degree in Korean Language and Asian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.