March 2, 2006

By Diane Chiddister

Local resident Jan Anderson has created Fridgefronts, a new product that brightens up refrigerators with colorful designs and holiday motifs.

When Jan Anderson was a military wife, she wondered why refrigerators had to be ugly. In base housing she encountered the appliances in weird shades of green, or rusty and dented, or, at best, one more yawn in a boring white kitchen.

Anderson had an idea that seemed so obvious that she wondered why no one had done it before. In short, she wanted to jazz up her fridge.

After five years of research and development and an investment of about $200,000, Anderson has transformed her idea into reality. Last year she launched Fridgefronts, a company aimed at elevating the lowly fridge into a work of art.

No longer do refrigerators need to be boring, Anderson said. No longer must they be totally white, or the bland backdrop for kids’ report cards and photos of distant cousins.

Now, when you reach to open the fridge, you can encounter sparkling ocean waves, perky golden sunflowers or drifting autumn leaves. In a seasonal mode, you can march a jolly Santa into your kitchen or, in a fit of patriotism, cover your fridge with the American flag.

“What I want is to give people more freedom to decorate and to be creative,” said Anderson, who has a fine arts degree in sculpture from Wright State. “I love bringing an idea that I thought was a good one to reality and making people happy. It tickles me every day.”

Although she now offers only five Fridgefront designs, Anderson is not one to think small. She hopes someday to offer 50 to 100 design choices, including fine art along with the five photographic images she currently features. She would especially like to include the creations of local artists, she said, along with interactive Fridgefronts for children and personalized designs.

Her idea is relatively simple, but taking Fridgefronts from the concept stage into America’s kitchens has been anything but, Anderson said.

She initially envisioned a Fridgefront as a refrigerator magnet only bigger — much, much bigger. She wanted magnetic sheeting to cover both the refrigerator and the freezer doors with a single image. But refrigerators come much larger than the 24-inch width of magnetic sheeting that American companies produce, she said, so Anderson turned to the Internet.

But the Web offered its own challenges. Especially, Anderson recalled, she felt endlessly frustrated explaining Fridgefronts to those who didn’t speak English. After six months of searching the Internet, she settled on a Chinese factory that produced the right width of magnetic sheeting. But the prototypes the company made were shoddy, she said, the sheeting too thin and easily torn, and so she started over.

Finally, Anderson was delighted to find the answer to her production needs close to home, at a printing company in Columbus. The company’s results proved satisfactory, and she has stuck with them.

“I had a strong desire to use an American company,” she said. “Through trial and error I found this Columbus company that had the know-how.”

The term “trial and error” holds new meaning for Anderson now, after her five-year journey with Fridgefronts. After settling on a producer for her product, she discovered she needed a patent, but getting one was no easy thing. The process of finding the right patent attorney consumed several years and $20,000 in expenses, she said, but she eventually emerged victorious in January 2005, with an official patent for Fridgefronts.

Throughout the long and often frustrating process, Anderson said she appreciated the support she received from her family, especially her younger brother, Jason Augenstein of Enon, who became her financial backer.

“I had the concept, and a few years later, he caught the spirit,” she said.

Anderson launched her new product, which sells for $69.95, plus shipping, a year ago at the International Housewares Show in Chicago, where Fridgefronts caught the eye of Sky Mall, the airline magazine. When Anderson received her first Fridgefront order, after five years of effort, she said, she sat down and cried.

But although the Sky Mall contact seemed an auspicious beginning, her company hasn’t yet taken off as she hoped, Anderson said. She has presented Fridgefronts at five more home shows, and received many kudos from those who love her idea and want to work with her, but follow-through seems to be lacking. For instance, she said, the University of California at Berkeley contacted her about the possibility of ordering Fridgefronts for its dorms, but the deal hasn’t been finalized.

For now Anderson is looking for the best way to market Fridgefronts. Perhaps that way is home shows, or perhaps retail, and she’s exploring both possibilities. She is giving her company her all, putting in 30 to 40 hours a week on top of her full-time job as Dayton-area director of operations for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

A native of Enon, Anderson has worked as a marriage and guidance counselor, as the director of a retirement community and as a rescuer of racehorses. She hopes to parlay her Fridgefronts idea into her full-time occupation.

“I love what I do, but that doesn’t have the creative element that this does,” she said. “I want to get off the grid and have more freedom.”

After a lifetime of moving frequently, Anderson said she also wants stability. She has found a home in Yellow Springs, where she lives on West South College Street, and she plans to stay here to grow her company.

“I feel grounded here,” she said. “I don’t want to go away again.”

To learn more about Fridgefronts or to place an order, visit www.fridgefronts.com.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com