What Luxury Recession? Kitchen Starts at $214,900

The top dogs at Poggenpohl, a fast-growing German maker of luxury kitchen cabinets, really want to meet the Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki. The execs were in town yesterday to open the new Poggenpohl Kitchen Design Studio, the second–and largest–new kitchen studio the company has opened in Texas this year. (This one’s 5,000 square feet, compared to Houston’s puny 3,800 feet.) And, managing director Elmar Duffner and U.S. president Ted Chappell (in photo, from left) were especially eager to show off their Poggenpohl Porsche Design P’7340, a sleek “kitchen for men” developed in cooperation with the German automaker. The 7340’s price starts at a whopping 150,000 euros–or roughly $214,900. The luxury-segment recession notwithstanding, Duffner and Chappell said they’ve sold five Porsche kitchens in the U.S. so far. And they think German-born Dirk would make an ideal buyer for the sixth.