Kitchen Cabinets

This is not an easy day for Martha Stewart. Sitting in her Manhattan office, surrounded by sparkling walls of ribbons, puff-paints, glitters and decorative hole punches, all carefully arranged by color and size, she has a very serious look on her face, which has been freshly repowdered after a midday yoga session.

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FOR THE RECORD:

Martha Stewart: A Dec. 5 Calendar article about Martha Stewart reported that her jail time cost her company $1 billion. That figure is not an annual financial loss for the publicly traded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. but an estimate from Stewart based on possible damage to her brand name and loss of future business deals. The company’s actual losses from 2004, when Stewart served her sentence, through 2009 totaled $172.3 million. ?

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“It’s the third anniversary of my mother’s death,” she explains, her eyes downcast. At first, it seems like she might get emotional ? until you realize she’s just looking down at her laptop, reading a post on “The Martha Blog” about her mother’s death. “We got 400,000 page views on this already,” Stewart says, clearly pleased. “Of course, when my mother died, we got 5 million page views.”

Martha Stewart is not a sentimentalist. True, she became this country’s first female self-made billionaire by pinpointing the very things many people feel most sentimental about: home-cooked meals, handmade Christmas wreaths, a warm bed with tightly tucked sheets. But she’s always used those ideas to promote a lifestyle ? one that can be achieved with Martha Stewart-brand products. After a reputation-damaging jail stint and a subsequent billion-dollar loss to her company, that lifestyle has become a tougher sell. Her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, reported a $14-million loss in 2009.

On the eve of her annual Christmas special bonanza ? “Martha Stewart’s Holiday Open House,” guest-starring Jennifer Garner and Claire Danes, airs Monday on the Hallmark Channel ? America’s No. 1 Working Mom knows she’s facing a do-or-die moment. In order to promote her merchandise, which is sold at Macy’s, Home Depot and PetSmart, she needs television. And unlike her flawless croquembouche recipe, her TV ratings haven’t been the very best they could be.

In September, looking to find a permanent home base for “The Martha Stewart Show” outside of syndication on NBC-owned stations, she launched an ambitious eight-hour programming block on the Hallmark Channel. But in the first month, “The Martha Stewart Show” averaged fewer than 200,000 viewers ? less than half the audience of reruns of “The Golden Girls,” which ran in the same time slot on Hallmark a year ago. A talk show co-hosted by Stewart’s daughter, Alexis, attracted even fewer viewers, and a cooking show starring Martha Stewart Living’s executive food editor Lucinda Scala Quinn didn’t fare much better. In its annual report, filed in March, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia suggested that reduced ratings could make it “economically inefficient” to continue to produce “The Martha Stewart Show.”

So Hallmark’s 69-year-old queen bee is pushing herself to be a smarter, faster, stronger Martha Stewart. Working on four hours of sleep per night, she’s expanded her merchandising empire with items as varied as dog sweaters and kitchen cabinets (Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integra. Her company now makes most of its money from merchandising, and revenue in that area is up from last year. She’s attracting younger fans with iPhone apps such as Martha Stewart Makes Cookies, an e-book club for the Sony Reader, and an iPad version of her magazine Martha Stewart Living. Over the last year, she’s been bucking her ice queen reputation by Tweeting about attending Diddy’s birthday party, playing herself on “The Simpsons,” even pole-dancing on a very special episode of “The Martha Stewart Show.” (“I want to do the upside-down things!” she told the crowd.)

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Chairman Charles Koppelman says he can’t imagine the company pulling the plug on “The Martha Stewart Show.” “Quite honestly, that’s a show that has never really made all that much money, but it’s important because it drives our products,” he explains. “Someone else would have to pay $20 million a year for the kind of branding and awareness that our show has.”

But if America’s back to buying Martha Stewart the brand, why aren’t they embracing Martha Stewart the TV personality?

Such questions tend to exasperate Stewart. “For heaven’s sake!” she says, visibly annoyed, when asked if she was disappointed by her ratings. “You’re not going to be discovered on Day 1 on a foreign station. If you read my blog and my Twitter that first week, it was all, ‘Where are you? I can’t find Hallmark!’ or ‘I can’t afford to subscribe!’”

Hallmark’s message boards foretold other problems. Fatigued by the overwhelming number of cooking and redecorating and crafting shows on cable, some commenters suggested that the very lifestyle programming that Stewart pioneered might be gobbling up her audience.

“First we had the Food Network. Then the Cooking Channel? How many food shows do we need?” wrote one viewer. “She belongs on a HOME Show channel like Home and Garden Network, NOT HALLMARK!” wrote another.

Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media, wonders if some of Stewart’s advertising dollars have been reallocated to her competitors. “She had a niche there that was ahead of its time: the alpha-moms and ‘mom-prenuers,’ ” he says. “Now you have the Oprahs and the Rachael Rays going after the same niche.”

Asked what distinguishes her from all the other domestic doyennes on cable, Stewart often uses the word “teacher.” She once said that Ray is “more of an entertainer … with her bubbly personality, than she is a teacher, like me.” Marking the main difference between her and Oprah, she says, “I’m a teacher, she’s a preacher.” By way of example, she opens up a promotional booklet on her desk and points to an old photo of herself surrounded by young girls. “There I am teaching my daughter and her friends the very best techniques when they were 10 years old,” she says.

Stewart’s demand for perfectionism, both from herself and her guests, has made her a superhero to millions of aspirational nesters. But she’s up against a how-to market that’s increasingly democratized. Home decor sites such as Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge focus on everyday readers and their unstaged, shabby-chic apartments. Food sites like NotMartha.org highlight simpler dishes instead of laboring over condiments made from scratch. Yes, these sites seem to say, you can have it all ? but do you really want it all?

“What Martha’s facing is that there are thousands of young Martha Stewarts out there with blogs,” says Jessica Coen, editor in chief of the feminist website Jezebel, which often recaps Stewart’s show. “With Martha, it’s: ‘The Martha Way is perfect.’ Online, it’s: ‘Here’s how I did it, but you could probably do it your own way with the same tools.’ And they do it for much less cost.”

Stewart’s viewers don’t necessarily need to think about budgeting. Koppelman says Stewart has the most affluent audience of any daytime talk show hostess. Her move to Hallmark raised the average household income of the network’s viewers from $50,000 to $70,000, and not everyone was happy about it. When she brought Manolo Blahnik on her show, one commenter on Hallmark’s website wrote that “outside of large cities like New York and the west and east coast,” no one could afford these shoes.

In this bruising recession, the do-it-yourself movement has become more important than ever. And to be fair, Stewart kind of invented it.

“Yes, we’re bringing people back to basic values in this economic downturn,” she says, “but people forget that we’ve always been doing that, since Day 1. I have a garden and I pick my own parsley and spinach and make my own green juice every day. It would cost seven dollars if you went to the store to buy it.”

She pauses, suddenly thoughtful. “You can waste your whole life not doing anything,” she says. “That’s very important to me, having in-depth knowledge of what you’re trying to do with your life.”

Ironically, if Stewart’s life was a Hallmark movie, a lot of people would watch it. Born to two Polish American teachers who taught her how to cook and garden and can and sew, she developed an immigrant work ethic early on. Her father, she says, challenged her in Scrabble every single night of her childhood, and she beat him only once. She built her empire up from a catering business in her Westport, Conn., home, and ran much of her empire as a single mother. Joan Didion once described her back story as “a ‘woman’s pluck’ story, the dust-bowl story, the burying-your-child-on-the-trail story, the I-will-never-go-hungry-again story, the Mildred Pierce story, the story about how the sheer nerve of even professionally unskilled women can prevail.”

Hallmark loves a good underdog story, and Stewart has one that’s still being told. Early next year, she plans to fight her way back into viewers’ households by expanding on her brand beyond the how-to model. True, she’ll introduce a new Julia Child-inspired baking show, “Martha Bakes,” but she’ll also indulge her inner talk-show host with a prime-time interviewing special, “Martha Stewart Presents: The Men Who Make Us Laugh,” starring Seth Meyers and other comedians. Like Oprah, who’s backed shows by guests like Dr. Oz and Nate Berkus, Stewart also is endorsing programs by experts she approves: Next year, she’ll premiere a new docu-series called “Petkeeping With Marc Morrone.”

Stewart’s out to prove that she’s still “a good thing.” And as she’d tell you herself, even good things can always be better.

melissa.maerz@latimes.com

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this story.

WENATCHEE ? A newly remodeled kitchen is a Christmas gift that will get the new year off to a wonderful start for Francisca Martinez?s family.

Local businesses and attorneys provided the gift, amounting to several thousand dollars worth of services and materials.

Francisca Martinez and her two children had been living in their Kittitas Street home without a kitchen or hot water for several months after her insurance company refused to pay for damages caused by a ruptured water heater.

?I don?t care that it took a long time. I?m just so grateful for the help because I didn?t have money to do it myself,? Martinez said Friday through an interpreter.

A single parent, she supports the family by working as a packer at Northern Fruit Co. She sat in the living room of her house, surrounded by stacks of pots and pans, cereal, canned goods and dishes: the entire contents of her kitchen cabinets (Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integra.

The refrigerator still was plugged in next to the couch. A microwave in which the family has cooked all their meals the past few months sat on a coffee table.

But Martinez and her 12-year-old daughter, Anna, had a big smiles on their faces because three volunteer employees from Home Depot were hard at work in the kitchen.

?We hoped to finish up today, but we had to do some extra work around the stove that was covering the electrical panel,? said Bruce Watts, one of several Home Depot employees who volunteered to install new cabinets and a new stove ? still on order ? made available with a $2,500 grant from the store.

A new water heater and kitchen sink were donated and installed by After Hours Plumbing & Heating Inc. First Choice Floor Coverings sent over employees to repair and cover the kitchen floor, where there had been only a treacherous hole since June. Watts said the kitchen should be back in operation by Wednesday.

Wenatchee attorney Pete Fraley offered to handle whatever legal matters might be necessary without charge. Although all the recent work done on the house was donated, Martinez racked up a couple thousand dollars in bills from a construction crew and plumber that a homeowners insurance representative told her would be paid.

The help was organized through Chelan-Douglas County Volunteer Attorney Services, a group of local attorneys who look for ways to help low-income people in the area with legal matters.

?She was a single mom living without a kitchen, bathroom nor hot water. We wanted to find a way to help her,? said Kelly Delong, the organization?s director. She and assistant Armando Juarez visited Martinez last July and were shocked at what they found.

It took awhile to put together the volunteer effort, she said, but local businesses were eager for a holiday project.

Martinez said problems began early last June when she began smelling mildew in the kitchen. She called a plumber and found out she needed to replace the water heater, which had been leaking beneath the floor. She was encouraged to contact the insurance company that held the policy on the small house she had purchased four years ago.

Martinez called the insurance company ? Country Mutual Insurance Co. of Salem 3, Ore. ? and a representative told her the repairs would be covered, although there would be a $1,000 deductible.

She called construction workers in mid-June. They told Martinez the damage was extensive and began ripping out all the kitchen cabinets (Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integra, the sink, water heater and kitchen floor.

Martinez said she doesn?t know for sure what happened next, but the workers didn?t return to finish the work.

The insurance company said she shouldn?t have let them start. She ended up with a $1,200 bill from the construction company, a $450 bill from the plumber and a demolished kitchen. She said the insurance company wouldn?t return her calls.

Without running water and a kitchen, she was forced to move her children out of the house and stay with friends. They moved back to the home in September when conditions got too crowded at the house where they were staying. Her children had to return to school and they wanted to be back in their own home.

Martinez contacted the Volunteer Attorney Services again and Juarez promised to find her help. He told her he thought the problem had already been remedied.

Work started around Thanksgiving and should be completed this coming week.

?Even though we live humbly here, it is better to be in our own home,? she said. ?I?m so grateful to everybody for their help. I can?t pay, but God will give them their reward.?

Rick Steigmeyer: 664-7151

steigmeyer@wenatcheeworld.com

I’m glad I’m sitting down right now because my head is spinning and I’m a little dizzy.

I might be experiencing a classic example of a domino effect, although this could be the result
of a sophisticated plot.

I’ll explain.

This saga began awhile back when my wife decided that we should have new kitchen cabinets (Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integra. It
wasn’t long before a crew of workers showed up and installed them, and I have to admit that they
look pretty good.

Almost instantaneously, however, she suggested that we needed granite countertops to go along
with the new cabinets. Another crew came in and installed the countertops, and she appeared to be
happy with the results.

Her joy quickly lapsed, though, and she fell into deep thought. Shortly thereafter, she told me
we really needed a new ceiling with recessed lighting to shine on her cabinets and countertops.

Mind you, I had thought that none of these renovations was coordinated and that they just picked
up speed like an avalanche blasting down a mountain. But on second thought, perhaps it was a plan
that I had not been let in on.

The avalanche turned into a landslide. She said the lights pointed out the desperate need for a
new kitchen floor, and we soon got a stone tile floor. I thought we were finally done with all the
construction and hubbub, but I was in error.

She noted that the backsplash didn’t match the floor. I asked her what a backsplash was, and she
patiently explained that it is the area between the cabinets and the counters.

A tile backsplash was installed, and the kitchen looked spiffy.

“Are you happy and contented now?” I asked her , and she said she was getting close but wasn’t
quite there yet.

As long as we had done so much in the kitchen, she said, we might as well get a new stove and
refrigerator. I had to sit down; my head was spinning. I thought the stove and refrigerator were
fine, but she explained that the oven was not heating properly and that the refrigerator was
archaic.

After we got the new appliances, I thought I perhaps would benefit from all this expenditure and
work by seeing some super meals. I was terribly wrong, though. It seemed that she wanted to dine
out even more, probably to keep her new kitchen spotless.

I’m not making up any of this.

But then, a happy wife equates to a happy life. I shudder to think, though, what the new year
will bring.

Retired weather columnist John Switzer writes a Sunday Metro column.

jswitzer@dispatch.com

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