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OXO began with a few simple questions -
Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands? Why can't there be
wonderfully comfortable tools that are easy to use?
The man
who asked these questions was Sam Farber. Sam, who had recently
retired as the founder of a successful housewares company, first
questioned the effectiveness of kitchen gadgets in response to his
wife Betsey's difficulty in gripping ordinary kitchen tools, due to
a slight case of arthritis in her hands. Seeing an opportunity to
help not only people with arthritis but also to create more
comfortable kitchen tools for everyone to use, Sam came out of
retirement and approached the design firm Smart Design with that
challenge. As part of the initial research that included talking
with consumers, chefs and retailers, Patricia Moore, a noted
gerontologist, was brought on board to help understand the needs of
the users with special needs.
After hundreds of models,
dozens of design iterations, and extensive manufacturing research,
OXO was born. In 1990, the first group of 15 OXO Good Grips kitchen
tools was introduced to the U.S. market. These ergonomically-
designed, transgenerational tools set a new standard for the
industry and raised the bar of consumer expectation for comfort and
performance.
Since then, the line has grown to more than 500
innovative products covering many areas of the home. The OXO Good
Grips line has been recognized by several national and international
organizations for superior design and today is regarded as one of
the icons of Universal Design. Since Sam sold the company and
retired from OXO in 1995, the company was purchased in 1999 by World
Kitchen, Inc., a housewares company based in Reston, Virginia, and
then again in 2004 by Helen of Troy Limited. Today, OXO continues to
be focused on creating innovative solutions for problems that users
experience in their everyday tasks.
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