“…low level of … orders … in this difficult economy
makes it unfeasible to maintain
such a small volume of production,” Viking says
Viking Range Corporation confirms that, in the first quarter of this year, it discontinued the manufacturing and sales of its St. Charles steel kitchen cabinet brand. The “original” St. Charles brand — launched in 1935 — was the creme-de-la-creme of vintage cabinets. The brand was purchased by Viking in 2001; they discontinued sales of the legacy design in 2004, and they launched their newly engineered designs for sale in 2008. I reached out to Viking, and they provided this statement, which they said was made to dealers in Q1:
As the economy continues to struggle, it is important that companies commit their resources where they have the most long term impact. With that in mind and after much contemplation and review, Viking Range Corporation has decided to discontinue manufacturing St Charles cabinetry.
Viking has a strong emotional attachment to the St Charles brand and has supported it for six years; however, the low level of St. Charles orders we are receiving in this difficult economy makes it unfeasible to maintain such a small volume of production.
Viking remains committed to supporting the network of St Charles dealers and their current customers as we work through this shutdown transition together.
– Viking Range Corporation
Two readers first alerted me on Feb. 15 that St. Charles cabinet dealers told them that they could no longer buy the cabinets. Comments came in this story about the lovely array of colors that Viking offers for its refrigerators, stoves and other appliances. One of the commenters, Dave, said:
I recently tried to buy cabinets and all sales have been put on hold while Viking tries to find a buyer for the brand. You can’t buy new St. Charles right now for any amount of money. Sad really, we are back to the drawing board for our 1951 re-do…
Earlier, a spokesperson for Viking would not officially comment on whether the St. Charles brand was for sale. The St. Charles website has been deactivated, and we’ve recently spotted three dealers selling their showroom displays on craigslist or Facebook.
St. Charles was a longtime, iconic steel kitchen cabinet brand, and derived its name because the company was based in St. Charles, Ill.
During all this time, as far as I know, St. Charles was considered “top of the line” — the gauge of the steel was very, very heavy. According to my research, it was the very last of the iconic brands to endure in the marketplace. The 21st century Viking/St. Charles cabinets were the only premium steel kitchen cabinet widely available in the U.S. market, as far as I know. More info on the history of steel kitchen in midcentury America here.
I will let you know if / when there is more information on the status and potential future availability of new manufacture St. Charles kitchen cabinets. Viking told me in an email, “Should there be any updates regarding the St. Charles brand, we will certainly communicate that to you in a very timely manner.”
Other stories about the new-generation St. Charles kitchen cabinets that I have featured on the blog:
- I reported that Viking had purchased and would relaunch the St. Charles brand in spring 2008.
- A few years later, I followed up with a story on the use of the St. Charles kitchen cabinets in the Frank Sinatra house, Twin Palms”, in Palm Springs.
Moving to opinion — mine:
I would love to see the St. Charles brand endure and succeed. I have not seen a lot of vintage St. Charles kitchen cabinets in person — but the few I have seen were gorgeous, and definitely superior compared to any other vintage brands I’ve seen. HEAVY DUTY.
I never saw one the “revival” St. Charles kitchens in person, although they sure looked nice online. They certainly seem to have been marketed to the high-end consumer. When, a few years ago I asked Viking for pricing, they could not give it to me — prices were not even published.
Now that the brand is being sunsetted by Viking, we’re starting to get some clearer indications of how expensive they were, as dealers list their display models for sale. One set of seven kitchen dealer showroom cabinets spotted was for sale for $8,950. Moreover, the dealer says the MSRP retail price was $23,000. That’s more than $3,000 per cabinet. Another showroom display, spotted by participants on our Forum, indicated a similar, hefty retail price: $48,300 for 14 cabinets, which averages $3,400 per cabinet. Again – these are full-retail prices; the price as sold by dealers may have been discounted. For example, I recall that on the (now defunct) Forum, we had another commenter say she’d been quoted around $800 for a 36″ base cabinet.
Even so, I’m not saying this pricing was crazy or anything: I bet for sure, that for Viking, manufacturing steel kitchen cabinets and also maintaining a dealer infrastructure was very costly. Buyers would have been very high end — this market would have demanded custom sizes, features and service to the nth degree. I really think that selling kitchen cabinets and selling stoves must be vastly different: The stoves and appliances are almost like commodities at this point; the kitchens, on the other hand, are “high touch” custom. Very labor intensive to deal with. And we are talking: Powder coated steel. I am sure that must cost much more than wood, MDF and particle board — key components in wood kitchen cabinets.
Not to mention, and as Viking pointed out in their statement, there is the economy: The Great Recession hit just as Viking was launching the St. Charles brand — that could not have helped either, *understatement*.
What to do if you want steel kitchen cabinets for your retro inspired kitchen?
Some tips:
kara bruner says
Looks like the first link expired, but is reposted with a lower price! Now $7250…. here’s the new link:
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/hsh/2948026781.html
Carole says
Love that first photo, so streamlined, so neat and modern. It’s a shame that Viking has discontinued the cabinetry, but it seems to be a way of our times. If the price is any indication, most people (including my husband and I) couldn’t afford the cabinets even if they wanted to. Not all of us can afford what is considered ‘top of the line’, no matter how much we’d like to (without going into extreme debt).
I hope the company continues to look for someone to continue producing the line and to do it justice.
I’ll admit that though I’ve heard of the cabinetry, I’ve never seen it before. It is very striking, and as I said above, very streamlined and modern. Great for a ranch or many other modern style homes.
Jay says
many reasons for the end-of-the-line:
1. A high end buyer will splurge on the Viking appliances but when it comes to the steel cabinetry; American won’t do because it won’t impress the neighbors; it has to be German or Italian design.
2. Also, probably a case where something that was so reasonable in price back in the day is now too pricey for the average Joe.
3. Most people who look at older homes when buying usually decrie anything old as “dated” and has to be gutted; not vintage the way folks do on this site, so they certainly aren’t looking to replicate anything old with new if it’s going to have an “old” look.
Gary says
My hometown, Bangor Maine has many kitchens with St. Charles kitchens. Post WWII, there was a dealer here who made a small fortune who sold St Charles for the building boom of the time and in many remodels. The owners of these homes still have the original cabinets. I rejuvenated a couple fo the kitchens when the owners originally wanted a “new” kitchen. The cabinets were removed, media blasted and refinished, just like new! One home had wood doors and the owner wanted some umph so we took the doors off, had an inlay of black walnut like a border installed into the plain solid birch doors. Very handsome kitchen. Kitchen cabinets have a large mark-up. I used to design/sell using Quaker Maid. The cost multiplier was about $0.28 per dollar of retail. So for every $1,000 in cost the price for us was $280. We rarely sold at full retail. Our less expensive line the cost multipier was as low as $0.17 per dollar.
Laura says
I have some of the new St. Charles cabinets in my kitchen, and I’m currently waiting for some more to come in late May. They are beautiful and well made, and I’m very sad to see them go out of business. We compared prices and they were not outrageous, as most people think. We’re doing a small kitchen, L-shaped + a corner unit for under $20,000. We had a problem with our distributor who ordered the wrong color, so we’ve reordered the correct color and are going to sell the ones we have now. (I’ve listed them in the forum if anyone is interested.) It’s a VERY long story, but the bottom line is, we toured the factory in Mississippi and were impressed enough to place an order. When the project is complete, I’ll share some photos.
Sarah says
Well I’m beside myself. I’m a fan of repro – whether clothing or home goods. It seems to be an unpopular standpoint within the vintage community (as if my choices are not “authentic” enough to be worthy – ha!). But if I can get the same look in pristine condition, why not pay a bit more for something that will last a lifetime?
I’m still renting, so I guess my all-new buttercup-yellow kitchen will have to remain a dream…
Linda says
Pity. What a beautiful kitchen!
Dan O. says
I was completely unaware that new steel kitchen cabinets were recently available at any price. I am also not surprised at the pricing, comparisons can be made to other examples of high quality, powder coated steel cabinetry; specifically tool chest/cabinets from MAC, SnapOn and Lista, very similar pricing. As much sense as steel cabinets make I’m sure they were a hard sell to the typical high-end shopper who would be more likely to dump their piles of money on a vendor like Bulthaup or similar. So sad to hear of an old name (and domestic?) manufacturer dying off.
Chase says
This is such a shame. I do, however, find it odd that I hadn’t seen any advertisements for the line of cabinetry. Usually, in the Architectural magazines that I get, I see all sorts of high-end cabinetry advertised. I have never seen a St. Charles by Viking ad. I wonder if a part of their problem was a lack of advertisement. You can’t sell it if people don’t know that it exists!
Steve 66 says
I agree, they didn’t seem to do much to market the brand, especially in relation to the Viking name, which seems to be the holy grail of high end appliances. I’m sure the recession hurt, but let’s face it; there are still plenty of folks out there with lots of money. Maybe they were too stylish and tasteful for the McMansion crowd.
gsciencechick says
This is obviously sad, but I understand the realities of the market and how it makes no business sense for them to keep the line. Hope someone can buy the line and perhaps revitatlize the brand, but it would take a huge leap of faith, risk, and vision.