Cooking up something special

Shiny chrome fixtures and smooth porcelain panels in red, pink,

yellow, black and two-tone combinations gleam from behind the display

glass of a nondescript storefront along Burbank Boulevard.

SAVON Appliances’ specialty is restoring and refinishing antique

stoves that are usually selected from the graveyard of antique stoves

behind the store.

The store has repaired and restored refrigerators, ranges, washing

machines, dryers and air conditioners for 27 years. About 20 years

ago, ranges by O’Keefe and Merritt and Wedgewood from the late ‘40s

and early ‘50s enjoyed a resurging popularity, said Marsha

Stonecipher, who runs the store for her brother Emmett Julian, who

also owns General Appliance Refinishing in Northridge.

SAVON is one of a handful of stores specializing in restoring

antique ranges and appliances in the Los Angeles area, Stonecipher

said.

“It’s amazing the difference in who buys these stoves,” she said.

“Money doesn’t make a difference. Rich, poor -- it’s young kids who

want a stove like grandma had.... They give people a cozy feeling.

And of course, the men like the chrome.”

The stoves first make their way into the store through the back

lot, where Stonecipher used to have customers walk through to choose

a stove to be restores to their specifications. Each stove is

restored, from the wires and the oven calibration to the outer

porcelain, chrome fixtures and knobs.

Most of the stoves are 55 to 65 years old, but after restoration,

can probably last another 40 years, Stonecipher said.

The store employs a team of three mechanics who specialize in

either the modern appliances, refrigerators or antique ranges. A

fourth man cleans each of the appliances that move through the store,

which is often about 300 a month, not including the vintage ranges,

Stonecipher said.

Geraldo Lopez and his son, Juan Carlos, restore the often beat-up,

scratched antiques to shiny, retro appliances that maintain their

temperatures better than their modern counterparts. Geraldo Lopez,

who originally delivered the ranges, has remodeled them for the past

four years, joined by his son two years ago.

Juan Carlos Lopez was not wild about the idea of restoring old

stoves for a living at first, but then began to see his finished

products.

“They all get here ugly, and when they’re done, they look nice,”

he said. “My dad did the black one [in the window]. When he was

finished, I was impressed -- all it takes is time and patience, and

you’ve got to be real detailed.”

BIZ BIT

Ranges restored by SAVON Appliances have appeared in such shows as

“Six Feet Under,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Malcolm in the Middle”

and “Desperate Housewives.”