His name was Hilary Norman Peterson, but everyone knew him as Norm, the amiable, portly accountant who warmed the same barstool for 11 seasons at television’s famous sitcom watering hole, “Cheers.”

David Freeman and his wife, Barbara, owners of Kitchenware Outfitters in the Twelve Oaks Shopping Center, based their business plan in part on what David calls the “Norm Theory,” the idea that their store would be a welcoming  place “where everybody knows your name,” like the cozy neighborhood bar on “Cheers.”

The Freemans avoid the hard sell.  Quick to help the mystified neophyte, they also know when to stand back. 

“People come in to buy an item they already are mentally using in their kitchen.  They don’t desperately need that item,” Freeman said.  “If customers just want to drop in for coffee and conversation, that’s fine.”

This laid-back approach is definitely not what you’d expect from a couple with the Freemans’ resumes.  She worked at accounting giant Coopers and Lybrand and he at Exxon-Mobil.  But it was Barbara’s job as vice president at cookware maker Le Creuset that forged the foundation for their Savannah venture.

Kitchenware Outfitters was Barbara’s idea, said David.  After Le Creuset, she knew gourmet pots and pans.  The couple decided to launch “a hardware store for cooks.”

Those cooks vary widely — from novices to professional chefs.  An unexpected niche grew out of professional chefs who are laid up in Savannah while awaiting the refitting of their employers’ mega-yachts.  That business earned the Freemans coverage in yachting magazines — and added to their reputations, which also has resulted in appointments to kitchenware industry advisory panels.

With their surefire business model of cooking and happiness set in motion, the Freemans decided early on to stir in a pinch of altruism and a dollop of community involvement.

Among their many in-store classes are knife-sharpening demonstrations by super-premium knife makers Henckels and Wusthof.  Sharpening fees are donated to the “Meals on Wheels” program at Senior Citizens Inc.  They also donate equipment to the culinary training program for the homeless at Starfish Café and for sale at Goodwill.

David feels the current popularity of cooking shows is driving — and being driven by — a resurgence of the tradition of family dinners at home.  The cooking shows also are driving the growth of Kitchenware Outfitters, which recently doubled its retail space.

“Naturally, when people see cookware used on those shows, they want those items.  We’re going to have them,” he said.