Coming Soon-Our 2nd Location
Allied Kitchen & Bath, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, has purchased a 20,000-sq.-ft. design center located in the former Sikes Tile Distributors building in the Downtown Oakland Park Culinary Arts District in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Construction will begin this summer with an opening slated for late 2014.
When asked about the goals for the space, Bill Feinberg, president, said that the space will allow the company to show more of what is not currently being shown in the original showroom, the biggest part of the project is to bring Allied’s vision to the development of the city’s Culinary Arts District, which is already home to the Funky Buddha Brewery and the Urban Farm Park.
“We want this location to incorporate other like businesses so that we can bring them all together and make this a destination where people can visit our showroom and then go have a drink or a bite to eat at the restaurant or establishment next door,” he added.
The new space will be divided into four different units, and an additional design showroom will be used to highlight some of the latest and greatest displays. As the previous tenant was an established tile distributor, Allied plans to expand its tile offering and bring in additional flooring options to the new location and will also feature appliances and selling them direct. Feinberg said they are looking to expand some of their cabinet lines and bringing in outdoor kitchens, as well.
Layout and Accessibility
“One of the most important features in any new showroom is the layout and flow of traffic, especially when there are a lot of people on a busy day,” he said. “On an average Saturday, we get about 30 to 40 families coming through our showroom, so the flow of traffic is critical for us.”
Outside design experts will join with Allied staff to create two large, live, working kitchens as displays and to use for charity events, and the rest of the space will be made up of individual partitions that can be easily changed out for outdated, discontinued or non-selling items.
Displays and Technology
The new showroom will serve as an extension to the company’s main showroom on West Oakland Park Boulevard and will feature several functional, interactive displays.
“We’ve learned from past experience that we definitely need to have more electric located throughout the showroom so that more of what we display can actually be live and connected to show things as they would be displayed in the home,” said Feinberg.
The new space will also feature technologically advanced equipment such as multiple flat-screen televisions and a projector system that will continuously display creative design ideas as inspiration for clients.
“Having the ability for products to be seen and touched is a huge advantage in the showroom,” added Feinberg. “By having electronic displays, we are easily able to show so much more product that is available to the consumer that we couldn’t necessarily fit onto the showroom floor.”
Allied’s existing showroom has six flat screen TVs to show customers the latest and greatest products.
“With interactive sites such as Houzz, Pinterest, there is so much that we can do to show a client product that we don’t necessarily display,” he said. “The goal is to keep the client from leaving the showroom because they can’t find what they’re looking for.”
iPad stations and touchscreens will be placed throughout the showroom so consumers can easily access the products available on the company’s website
