August/September 2026 housewareslive.net


kitchen. “The guy there was very good, very knowledgeable, and he told me


that materials actually affect your food,” he recalls. “I have three kids and I was like, ‘I didn’t know this.’” That prompted Khan to invest in some higher-quality cookware of his own. Initially, the price raised eyebrows at home, but once it was being used, he says the difference became clearer. The experience planted the seed for what would eventually become


Neutra Kitchen. At the time, Khan had left a job he had held for 14 years but was


really considering what he should do next. An acquaintance was selling quality cookware on a relatively small scale and Khan, who already had experience in retail, began thinking about how a similar proposition could be developed differently. “I have a background in retail,” he explains. “I realised the potential and the idea started from there. I started researching products and suppliers and putting my vision together with my experience in retail. “Then I thought, ‘You know what? I’m actually going to go for it.’” That was around six years ago. From the beginning, the idea was about more than simply filling


shelves with kitchenware. Khan wanted the products Neutra Kitchen sold to have a reason for being there. “I wanted to make sure that the stuff that I carried was actually going


to impact people in a positive way,” he says. “Good materials and making a difference to health, so to speak, is


where the Neutra Kitchen name comes from. It’s all about having a healthy kitchen and everything that complements that.” The kitchen’s position at the centre of family life also helped shape the concept. “It’s the hub of the home,” Khan says. “We wanted to make sure that


everything we did complemented that, enhanced it and encouraged it. That’s where the whole Neutra Kitchen concept started.”


name, but trading from one of London’s most expensive districts was never going to be straightforward. “It was actually quite hard, as you can imagine, especially just after


Covid,” Khan says. The business deliberately avoided committing itself to a long lease. When that agreement eventually came to an end and the cost of remaining increased, Khan decided it was time to look elsewhere. A number of potential locations followed, with deals falling through for


various reasons before attention returned to Putney. The aim was to move away from central London without going too far,


retaining access to existing customers while finding an area capable of providing a strong local customer base. “We wanted to stay in a reasonably good area where we could grow


our brand, stay in touch with our previous customers, but build new ones,” Khan explains. The Putney unit had actually caught his eye before, but at the time it


had already been taken. After several other possibilities came and went, Khan happened to discover that the premises was available again. This time, Neutra Kitchen took it.


A different customer


The move has brought more than just a new address. Mayfair naturally attracted tourists, international visitors and passing


trade, while Putney is giving Neutra Kitchen a more local customer. “It’s a good, mature area,” Khan says. “You get people in their late 20s,


Online to Mayfair


Like many businesses launched around the beginning of the decade, Neutra Kitchen’s early development was complicated by Covid. The business initially traded online, but Khan had always recognised the potential value of combining e-commerce with a physical presence. “When you’re new, online is harder,” he says. “Nowadays, you cannot


have a business without an online presence, especially, but we thought we could do both side by side.” As restrictions eased, an opportunity emerged in Mayfair. Empty shops and the unusual property market following the pandemic meant Neutra Kitchen was able to secure a deal on a central London location. It offered the business visibility and an opportunity to establish its


young couples, but you also get a lot of families, so it’s actually quite a good mix.” The difference has already influenced what is stocked. Where a visitor in central London might have been searching for something to take home as a gift, Khan is increasingly seeing people shopping for their own kitchens; whether that’s a new frying pan, saucepan or something for the table. “Like any good business, you have to make some changes according


to what the client needs,” Khan says. “You have to adjust. If you think whatever worked for me there is going to work here, no. You have to make adjustments to fit into where you are.” That does not mean abandoning Neutra Kitchen’s identity. Different price points have been introduced, but Khan is conscious


that everything still needs to sit comfortably alongside the rest of the range. “They still fit in line with our ethos and what we have,” he says. With the Putney store still in its infancy, further changes are inevitable as Khan gets a clearer picture of what local customers want.


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RETAILER SPOTLIGHT: NEUTRA KITCHEN


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