True Story
Trends come and go, but True Residential has been cool since 1945.
A lounge featuring True Residential’s beverage cooler and refrigeration drawers in cheerful saffron.
For the St. Louis–based True Residential, a new showroom in the A&D Building was over 75 years in the making. Founded by Bob Trulaske—alongside his father Frank and late brother Art—True Manufacturing got its start in 1945 by making commercial-grade refrigerators and freezers. The company is known for offering the first 40-cubic-feet, upright freezer on the market. After decades as a leading manufacturer of commercial appliances, they launched True Residential, a line of top-tier residential refrigerators.
Left: Art Trulaske at a metal break press in the company’s factory.
Right: An early commercial refrigerator unit.
“As we moved into the residential space, we kept that legendary build quality and [those] robust materials, but we refined it for the residential consumer,” explains Andrew Shead, True’s sales and marketing manager. “You can’t drive your kid to school in a Mack truck.”
Since its inception, True Residential has honed in on that careful mix of form and function, and its move into the A&D Building offers a fitting full-circle moment. “It’s something we always wanted to do,” Shead shares. “We knew we wanted to connect with what we consider one of the most important audiences: the design community in New York.”
Left: A delivery truck with the company’s original logo.
Right: Refrigeration drawers in an outdoor kitchen.
At 1,600 square feet, the new showroom shines a light on the brand’s celebrated past, present, and future, showcasing modern features and finishes that bring the company’s time-honored, commercial-grade craftsmanship to the 21st century. A gallery wall of custom color options greets the showroom’s design-minded clientele, and industry exclusive joining kits showcase a wide assortment of configuration options. “One thing you probably won’t see in any other showroom is our beautiful 42-inch, side-by-side refrigerator in an antique pink color,” says Shead.
Finished with countertops from Cosentino; appliances from Fisher & Paykel; and millwork from a St. Louis–based company called WunderWoods, the space creates a lavish-yet-livable backdrop that highlights its inventory’s full potential.
While the brand is known for its full palette of brilliant color, they also excel at streamlined stainless steel, and modern matte black.
True Residential is eager to use its showroom to unite the city’s design community. “We’ll be hosting educational events as well as networking meetings for the industry and trade,” Shead explains. “We can bring in designers and partners to learn about the product and get an in-depth understanding about how we build our equipment, and what makes us different.”
The new showroom in the A&D Building includes this sophisticated bar setup.