Talented Gadget Hits Market

BOSTON--A new appliance that can chill beer, freeze ice cream and cook pizza has college students clamoring, and the inventor, a former computer sales agent, crossing his fingers.

The Microfridge, offered by Microfridge, Inc., is a three-piece appliance composed of a compact refrigerator, a separate freezer compartment and a mini-microwave. The product retails for $429.

The company founders did more than stack three units on top of one another and paint them the same color, however. Their machine, which stands under four feet tall, was invented to use no more power than a compact refrigerator.

"Quite simply, when one unit is running, the other one is off," explained co-founder Robert P. Bennett, who said he holds two patents on the Microfridge's circuitry.

Bennett said if a consumer wanted to cook in the microwave, then the freezer and refrigerator would shut off temporarily, and resume when the cooking was done. Product testing showed that even when the microwave was on for 45 minutes, the machine's cooler parts gained only three degrees, Bennett said.

The first shipment of 1700 Microfridges went out at the end of August, and the company plans two more shipments by the end of November. Sales are expected to top $1.9 million this year, Bennett said, and "the phones are still ringing."

"The biggest problem is going to be eventually we'll have to think about competition," said Bennett. "Once we create a market, either we'll have built up until we're the recognized name, or we won't have, that will allow someone else to come in."

For now, the efforts of Bennett and his co-founders Peter Soriano, 47, and Ed Ward, 37, are focused on promoting the idea for use in schools, hotels, office suites and military bases.

More than 88 percent of the first shipment was bought by colleges and their students, Bennett said. And students are forming waiting lists at Brown University in Rhode Island and the University of Southern California.

Joseph Zannini, the executive director of housing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, says the school ordered 11 Microfridges for initial testing, welcoming the reduced power requirements.

Lauren Massara, a first-year student at Brown University, raved about her Microfridge.

"I think it could almost be considered a necessity if you're not on the three-meal plan. You can make breakfast, eggs or waffles," she said. Because of the Microfridge in her room, Massara plans to go off the three-meal plan, she said.

Depending on the small college market could ultimately sink Microfridge, Inc., said Chuck Ryan, an industry analyst at Merrill Lynch. Ryan also said the retail price was high enough to be a probable stumbling block.

"I think he's got a difficult sale on a price basis, because college students can buy a $99 refrigerator and a $99 microwave and save a lot of money," said Ryan.

According to Bennett, however, a separate freezer makes up for that price difference.

"How much is the freezer worth? That's really the question. And because we have an extremely high backlog, it seems to be worth quite a lot," he said.