Originally published March 18, 1997, in The Reidsville Review, Reidsville, NC.
For nearly 35 years, Ken Gammons' life has centered around cookware—not just your ordinary pots and pans, mind you, but quality, multiple-ply stainless steel cookware.
Brenda Hanks, the assistant at Healthy Cooking on Freeway Drive, probably said it best.
"She said to me, Ken, you live, breathe, and eat cookware.' And I do. Everything is wrapped around it," Gammons said.
He even met his wife during a cookware demonstration get-together in his native Winston-Salem. She bought a set and caught the salesman's eye that same night.
West Bend's top salesman for 11 straight years, 1968 to 1978, Gammons is not the ordinary salesman.
"You've got to believe in what you do," he said. And he does—"wholeheartedly."
Other salesmen still go door to door into the public's homes just like Gammons used to, until he and his brand-new wife moved to Reidsville about four years ago. He still offers a free dinner of up to seven courses and a chance to see Gammons' new cookware, featuring whistling lids, in action.
But now he gives his customers—95 per cent married couples—an option: my place or yours.
And that in itself is the wave of the future in cookware sales, Gammons believes.
"This is a satellite, the first operation of its kind anywhere in the country—and it works," Gammons said. "It makes it more convenient for people."
Most people, given the option, choose to come to his shop, he said, probably because they don't have to clean up before or after.
The West Bend company, established in 1911, can't believe Gammons' shop is working, he said. Salesmen from the company and others have come from all over the country to Reidsville checking out the Healthy Cooking set-up.
But Gammons' business isn't just about good cookware. In the last 18 to 20 years, Gammons said he has noticed a significant change toward more healthy cooking and eating.
And salesman that he is, Gammons is raring to fill the need—hence, the name of his Ashcroft Commons establishment.
"I'm trying to show them the healthiest way possible to cook," Gammons said. "The market changes—you never know. People are more concerned about their health today."
In demonstrating the West Bend stainless steel cookware, Gammons uses no water, grease, or spray—and the food doesn't stick.
He completely vilifies aluminum in cooking and proves that eating off the floor is better than eating food cooked in an aluminum pan.
Gammons' eyes light up when he details the seven-ply stainless steel frying pans, pots and dutch ovens; the whistling lids that alert the cook it's time to turn off the burner; the shredder that peels apples and takes the heart out of celery.
"My cookware doesn't let you burn anything; it tells you when it's done. It takes all the guesswork out of cooking," Gammons said. "I can now show people, 'Hey—you're saving money, and the food cooks in half the time as normal.'
"People say to me, 'Ken, you crazy thing.'"
Crazy or not, last year, he sold more than $256,000 worth of cookware and about 250 or 300 full sets.
Gammons was working as a supervisor at Burlington Industries in Kernersville when a friend in the Winston National Guard suggested he talk to West Bend representative about working part-time.
"The truth is, I got into it just to earn enough money for my (first) wife to have a new set of cookware," Gammons said. "At that time, (she) had pots with handles off and everything. I didn't know it made any difference what your cookware looked like."
Once he saw the quality food made with the products and the service West Bend stresses, though, he was hooked.
That was 35 years ago. Two years later, he went into the business full-time. And if he could, he wouldn't change a thing.
"You're self-employed. It gives you freedom," Gammons said. "You're not tied down and nobody has to tell you when to come to work and when to leave."
Meeting new people is an additional benefit, he said. And it hasn't been hard to do in Reidsville.
"In the time we've been in Reidsville, people really know about us," he said. "This is a good, friendly town—laid back. But we're right here in the hub."
Due in no small part to West Bend's full, unlimited guarantee, Gammons the salesman can stand behind his product without doubt.
"The quality of this product cannot be sold in a store. Now it's the highest quality it's ever been."
And he wants to show it off. From 7 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday night, Gammons gets together at his shop with anybody who wants to learn about cooking—the healthy way.
Maybe he'll demonstrate how to make his famous non-lettuce salad. Or his apple–sweet potato concoction.
But one thing is for sure: He may be cooking with gas, but he won't ever be caught cooking with water.
©1997-2024 Jo R. Hawke. All rights reserved.
Update: Ken Gammons died in 2012. His obituary is here.
