NEWS | Q&A
‘It’s going to make waves in the marketplace...’
Q & A The new Brookmans by Smallbone kitchen brand launched
Q: This is quite a development for a new brand and for Lux Group… A: It is something that has evolved over the past five months with conversations across the table with our new owners, looking at the marketplace, where we are strong and where we could improve – and that is mid-price luxury.
Q: How did the Heal’s connection come about? A: Heal’s came to us. They were looking for a kitchen supplier and they wanted to work with a known brand, as it was going to bring more footfall into their store. The conversation started and we thought it would be a good position to launch Brookmans from.
Q: It is a nice fit for Heal’s… A: Yes it is. A large part of why we did it is the clientele that Heal’s has developed over 200 years of legacy in the furniture business and their
clients are design-savvy.
And that’s the kind of client we are trying to introduce to Brookmans by Smallbone. For us, it was a marriage made in heaven. What we are never going to be is cheap-cheap, but what we consider ourselves to be is aspirational, affordable luxury [starting from £20k]. I think it is going to make waves in the marketplace. We have a different outlook now as a business, different ownership and we have just invested £500,000 in new equipment that allows us to be able to run materials faster. We are working with the hearts and minds of our staff to get them on board for this move forward and Brookmans is a fundamental stakeholder in our future.
Q: How bespoke is Brookmans? A: It’s never going to be bespoke to the level of Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson. That would be crazy as we’d be taking business from ourselves. In order to achieve the efficiencies, you have to work to a set of standards. It will be a broad set of standards, so you will have in-fills of 50 or 100mm, but there’s
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in style last month at Heal’s flagship store in Tottenham Court Road. Chris Frankland spoke to Lux Group ideation director Iain O’Mahony (pictured) about the thinking behind it
Brookmans K2 kitchen display at Heal’s in
Tottenham Court Road
no shame in that. But we can make them more interesting with slide-out trays and such like. We are first of all makers of furniture and we have 40 years of heritage of making furniture, so there is stuff to us that is normal, but to our clients is exceptional, and we will continue with that.
Q: Are these kitchens exclusive to Heal’s? A: For now, yes. We will see where it goes in the next six to eight months. We have great plans for Brookmans. We hope it is going to be a cornerstone to our business and I genuinely believe it will take off. It’s beautiful, it’s a bit different and superbly well made at a good price point. What’s not to want? The K1 is a nod to Georgian
architecture. In-frame, painted, MDF doors. MFC for the interiors, so in that respect it is a tier down from our sister products. We are using Grass door runners and hinges. It’s a product we can be proud of. And clients can take ownership of the product with a choice of exterior and interior colours [main K1 display at Heal’s has dark green with an orange interior in a door with glass panels]. They can also choose from a range of handles. K2 is still a timber frame with a flat
door front. We have a simple door with no relief to it, but it’s also available with an additional bead detail. We consider the K2 to be a nod to Terence Conran and Habitat from the Seventies and we feel it is a very strong opportunity for the millennials market. But it offers an edge of craft to it. What we don’t want to become is a rich man’s Ikea.
Q: Are there plans to roll it out to other cities around the UK? A: Yes there will, but bear in mind that Heal’s has six stores, this is only one of them. So that’s an in-built opportunity for us. We are talking to Heal’s management about that. But… small steps, we’ve got to see how this one goes. There is also the opportunity of working through dealerships. Again we have 40 years of heritage working with dealers so that’s not a difficult step for us. There are lots of avenues for us to take this forward and we have to work out which way is best for us.
Q: Will your new facilities enable you to cope with future demand? A: That’s what the investment is about. We are constantly forward there as well.
looking
Q: Brookmans is a new brand. Is this its very first appearance in
the marketplace? A: No, it’s not. We have done one development four years ago in Brooklyn, New York, and it was our opportunity to come in at a slightly lower price point because the dollar per square foot value in Brooklyn is lower than Manhattan. We worked with a developer and worked up the Brookmans brand to fit that niche – and it worked incredibly well. So in effect it has been incubated over the past 10 years.
Q: Was that a baptism by fire? A: I would say this is more of a baptism by fire at Heal’s [laughs] because we are now being inspected by a lot of the same people.
Q: With that experience in
Brooklyn behind you, does that mean you might move into the developer market in the UK? A: With Brookmans – yes, definitely.
Q: With the K1 and K2 ranges? A: Developers tend to have their own design language and you’re asked to get involved with that quite early. So we would take the essence of it – the architecture and the quality of build – and put a new front on to accommodate the look of the building.
kbbreview · December 2019
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