Kitchen Showroom Design from Sourcing to Opening

You’ve finally set your mind (and your partners’) to open up a new kitchen showroom, you’ve done some googling and it’s quite hard to find information about the process, so what do you do now!? If it’s not your first design store, you might have a mental roadmap to refer to, but are there things you’re not taking into account? It’s been a while since you last opened up a store after all…

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I’m Walt and I worked as a designer since the early stages at a kitchen cabinet showroom, I saw it open up, I saw it thrive (for a while) and I saw it shut it’s doors because of mismanagement. In this article you’ll find out what worked for us, but most importantly what didn’t so you don’t have to make our same mistakes.

Location and it’s Mental Image

When doing that googling I mentioned, maybe this is the hardest keyword to search for because all that shows up are “near me” suggestions, and although it’s important to do market research, what you really want to know is: how important is the location for a kitchen showroom?

This entry can give you a hint, but I’d word it a bit differently:

The location for your kitchen showroom is indeed very important; definitely not “middle of nowhere” like saxondale said, but I don’t think somewhere like a “Design District” is the place for kitchen showrooms to be, unless you’re the corporate office of an internationally renowned brand with big budget and need positioning. If that’s not the case, you need sales and qualified traffic, not an expensive rent that drives the wrong audience.

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If you’ve been in the business for a while, you’re probably thinking that your clients would go wherever you open because of your good work, and in a way that’s true; but remember you also need to gain new clients and even if they’re referrals, their impression of your business needs to be top notch and location is one of the main impact drivers, so provided you keep in mind that the place must create a positive mental image once mentioned, the general formula would be:

Less rent expenses, More showroom experience and a Sparkle of marketing.

If this is your first kitchen showroom, keep in mind most experienced business owners will not follow what I just mentioned, so your aim should be to open your business in a location that creates a better mental image than your competition.

If your business model includes manufacturing, I would definitely keep the workshop in a different location unless you can maintain the good location mental image and not diminish the showroom experience because of size restrictions, which is very hard.

🚩🚩What didn’t work for us:
- Owners focused more on location than exhibition quality.
- No meeting room, clients got distracted way too much.

Speaking of size

I suggest following the rule of thirds. You don’t want to have less than 3 ambients comfortably showcasing each main product. If they allow to be combined like kitchen cabinets, appliances and countertops, only 3 kitchen ambients will do. If you also carry bathroom cabinets, having only one bathroom display will project the mental image of not having enough space and clients will think they’re possibly missing on better options that are just not displayed. So either be able to show at least 3 options comfortably, or none at all.

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Aside from the exhibition, you want to account for some storage, an office space for you and your team, and a meeting room:

• Storage: You won’t be receiving your international shipment here, but for sure there will be cases where it’s faster and easier to keep things at hand. Extra samples, hardware, paint... You don’t want clients to come and see cardboard boxes all around. This is a showroom and the client experience comes first.
• Office: How many people are you bringing to your team? Assign a desk to each, most stores can run with a staff of around 3-5 people: 1 salesperson, 1 designer, 1 accounting/logistics assistant and yourself. Keep in mind that you’ll be receiving frequent visits from allies such as installers and providers, so account for an additional hotdesk for those cases.
• Meeting Room: This is probably the most important room and the one that get’s forgotten the most. We used to think we could close deals right in the kitchen counter, and we did, but it wasn’t at all the best experience and a lot of sales were lost because of distractions. A private place is needed for clients to gather their thoughts, focus in their project and take action. We need them to make a lot of choices about samples, finishes, scope, budget and being in the showroom displays area only gives them space for distractions and to wander mentally and physically. Remember that final clients usually come with a party. Architect/designer, family members and such will need accommodation, so at least a table of 6 should be provided for all to be comfortably seated. Include in this room a sample wall, preferably a custom cabinet made with your own products, a TV or projector and some walk space for the presenter. It’s all about giving status to your work.

WOW Factor

It’s 2024, we live in a social media driven world. Even if you haven’t built a strong marketing strategy yet, keep in mind you need to encourage social media activity. In your kitchen showroom environment, this translates as an especially designed corner or wall where your clients will want to take a pictures of. Think of that place in a nice restaurant where the dining group takes the mandatory picture to mark the occasion; in our interior design world, this is the place where architects and clients with a keen design eye will want to take out their phones and take a picture of. What can that kitchen showroom WOW Factor be? If you carry well known brands, think of how those brands market their products; what is it that they show in the cover of their webpages? They most likely are already pointing clients’ attention to a specific finish, color, material…grab that as inspiration and bring it front and center.

Opening a successful kitchen showroom requires careful consideration of many more things aside of the ones we already covered. What’s the profile of the sales people you need? How will you find the designer that fits your kitchen showroom? Just as your location, all aspects should create a positive mental image; if you’re not getting that from your current team, you’re probably looking for an unicorn profile and you definitely need to take action. Fast.

🚩🚩What didn’t work for us:
- Low quality wow factor and too late implementation.
- Little to none social media interest.

In the end, it’s all about not only showcasing your products but also to provide a memorable but effective experience that drives sales.

About the Author

My name's Walt. You may already know me as the guy that’s reeally into kitchen cabinets and produces some YouTube content about interior design.

But, in reality, I am the guy that’s reeeeally into kitchens who also happens to be the CEO of Prontto. Our goal is to develop the most sustainable way for architects, designers and distributors to serve their clientele faster and reliably.

If you're interested in finding out about how to equip your new showroom with the best team processes, check out this Prontto service.

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