FOCUS | Blueprint for a successful showroom
‘Our customers require a truly personal touch’
Wiltshire-based McCarron & Co, which was recently acquired by Lux Group Holdings, is a British bespoke luxury kitchen maker with a Chelsea showroom. The key to success is offering a truly personal, quality service, says creative services director, Andy Barette…
Q & A
Q: Can you tell us the background to McCarron & Co? A: We formed in 2009 and we focus on truly bespoke joinery for the whole home. It was started
by eight former Mark Wilkinson
Furniture colleagues and we’ve progressed to having a 1,400sq ft showroom in Chelsea and one of 1,000sq ft at our manufacturing site in Bromham, Wiltshire. We employ 40 staff. The Chelsea showroom is positioned in the ‘Chelsea Cross’ area, which is a known design destination. There are several interior designers and bathroom retailers in the area, so clients can spend time looking at a variety of interiors shops.
Q: Who is your customer base and how do you promote and market your business? Are you omni-channel? A: Customers
are high-net-worth-individuals
and they require a truly personal touch to their projects. We mix materials and fi nishes in a way that our competitors do not. Our business has grown through recommen-
dations and referrals and we have a following on social media. We aim at the premium end of the market – the materials and processes we adopt do not fi t
McCarron & Co showroom in Chelsea
into a lesser bracket. Our timbers, veneers and metallic fi nishes are all Grade A selected.
Q: Which brands have you chosen to work with and why? A: Sub-Zero, Wolf, Gaggenau and Miele for appliances, Artisans for fl ooring and Joseph Giles for handles. All of these companies have a similar ethos to us regarding quality and service.
Q: What would you say are the factors that have led to your success? A: Listening to a brief, applying our own design skills and then delivering a quality product and service. I believe that is the key to success within our industry.
Q: How are you fi nding the market? Is it tough at the moment? A: It has been tough for 18 months, but as long as the quality of product and service is maintained and continually improved upon, there will be willing clients.
Q: What are your plans for the business going forward? A: We have recently been acquired by Lux Group Holdings, which has plans to revolutionise the way bespoke furniture is presented and the experience the client receives. The future is very positive for our clients and us.
and aspirations of your brand.”
Celtic Interiors in Cork updates its website regularly with blogs, a Kitchen of the Month feature and also has videos of its showroom online. Says a spokesperson for the company: “We have
a service where the public can subscribe to be sent a newsletter of our Kitchen of the Month. We also have completed projects professionally photographed and we post them regularly to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We fi nd this works well, as we often have prospective clients call in with a specifi c kitchen from a social media post in mind.”
A virtual showroom?
Kitchen designer Francesca Quansah, founder of Manchester-based Design By Helium kitchens, doesn’t have a showroom – she relies on word of mouth, her website –
www.designbyhelium.co.uk – and social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to get business.
“A lot of my clients are so busy – they feel like they don’t have time to go to showrooms and so many of them have told me they fi nd the showroom experience overwhelming,” she says.
“For the time being, I will keep running my service at home. I have minimal overheads, which means I can price my kitchens very competitively for what they are. If my clients do want the traditional showroom experience, I take them to my suppliers of cabinetry, worktops and appliances and give them the tour.” She adds: “In terms of people seeing the products, I get a lot of business from word of mouth, so I usually connect people with one of my previous clients – or they already know someone and have seen their kitchen – and we view fi nished projects. “If I had a bricks-and-mortar location, I’d make it a priority to get involved with local people and events to really become a part of the community. I think that is one of the most important things you can do as a small business.”
If showroom space is an issue and prevents you from displaying a wide range of products and designs, then one option that’s out there is virtual reality (VR). Software and CAD brand Virtual Worlds offers 4D Theatre technology, which creates a simulation of a kitchen or bathroom for customers. Says Nathan Maclean, the company’s managing director: “Transporting customers into a virtual world where they can feel like they are actually stepping into their new kitchen or bathroom is certainly a step up from leaving them to wander around a few displays, looking for inspiration, but with no clear idea of what will actually work in the real world.
“Rather than being restricted by physical showroom space, using VR retailers are able to show an infi nite number of colours and fi nishes. While only taking up one bay’s worth of physical space, 4D Theatre enables the showroom to expand exponentially – in effect it becomes a showroom with no limits.” Meanwhile, back in the real world, there’s no doubt that making your showroom part of an omni-channel experience is the way forward. Concludes T21’s Laville: “We’re a long way from customers being able to fully spec and design their kitchens and bathrooms themselves via online tools, and there’s no need to really go that way yet, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t give them a great experience online that complements the showroom and your services.”
48 kbbreview · September 2019
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