Kutchenhaus, the UK German kitchen retailer owned by Nobilia has opened a new showroom in Solihull town centre and in doing so, taking its showroom count to 72, with 6 more showrooms 'coming soon'
Although the Nobilia owned Kutchenhaus has come under regular criticism from independents selling and therefore competing directly with Nobilia (due to the perceived conflict of interest) what cannot be denied is the growth of new Kutchenhaus showrooms, via its franchising business model as Kutchenhaus is certainly bucking the downward trend by opening more showrooms.
The new Kutchenhaus showroom is located at 54 Poplar Rd, Solihull, and occupies a site on a busy high street populated by bank branches, a Marks and Spencer and a few doors down from an estate agents.
With 72 showrooms open and 6 more coming soon in Cheltenham, Guildford, Luton, Reading, Welwyn Garden City and Whiteley the Nobilia owned Kutchenhaus showrooms are fairly well distributed across the UK, with the exception of East Anglia, Norfolk and Suffolk, where no Kutchenhaus showrooms currently exist.
Anyone in East Anglia looking for Nobilia from Kutchenhaus will need to travel to either Stamford in Lincolnshire, or Stevenage in Hertfordshire, although there are some independent Nobilia showrooms in those locations.
The new Solihull showroom is owned by Somayeh Kaveian – an interior design professional with six years’ experience working as a restaurant director. The showroom has four displays, featuring appliances from AEG, Neff, Qooker, Caple and Bora. Kaveian said: “Opening our new showroom in the centre of Solihull is tremendously exciting. For me, it’s a dream come true as I’ve always loved interior design and especially kitchen design."
Franchising the Key to Kutchenhaus Success?
Several years ago Kutchenhaus decided to venture down the franchising route and use its industry knowledge and partner relationships with consumer finance, PR & marketing, web design and Google Ads service providers to put together a solid franchising proposition.
Although the franchise is marketed as "no upfront fee" the set up costs are payable over 5 years and Kutchenhaus says they will help franchisees source up up 70% of 'funding from partners'.
