RETAILER PROFILE | Ivan Simpson Bathrooms and Kitchens


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‘Kitchens? sooner…’


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van Simpson’s philosophy on life is a simple one – enjoy what you do and make some money out of it. An industry veteran with an impressive track record in distribution and retailing, he’s been on his current site in Durham since 2001 – happily making money in bathrooms. But after bringing in business partner David Burns a year later, he was persuaded to give kitchens a go – and he’s now kicking himself for not doing it sooner.


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“I asked David to be blunt and tell me what works and what doesn’t,” Simpson tells me as we begin a tour of his 4,000sq ft showroom. “He started pulling the place to bits and telling me we needed to bring in some brands. So I thought, we’ve got lots of air above, let’s put a mezzanine in and go from there.” Initially, Simpson admits he was very reluctant to try kitchens,


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preferring to stick to what he knew best in the midst of the recession. But customers kept asking for them and by not supplying them, he realised he was throwing business away. So five years ago, kitchens finally came on board. And while the British range he chose has since been offloaded, German brand Pronorm has rapidly become a major hit with customers. So does he regret not selling kitchens earlier? “Yes,” he laughs, “hindsight is a wonderful thing. But at the time, we just wanted to keep this place open. I looked like being the last man standing.” Crucially, the pair wanted a kitchen brand that offered something different from those being retailed elsewhere in the area, which is why Pronorm seemed an ideal addition to their portfolio. “What most people in the North-East do is take PWS doors,


kbbreview · August 2019


I’d done I only wish


How easy is it for a successful and well-established bathroom retail business to diversify into kitchens? Kbbreview visits Ivan Simpson’s showroom in Pity Me, County Durham, to hear why the idea is paying off


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