MPL Bathrooms
High Street

“Hello there,” said a voice from underneath the counter. A salesman stood up. “Please take a look round the showroom and feel free to take some brochures,” he offered.

Baths and showers were tucked away in several nooks and crannies. “If you’re able to bring in a floor plan and measurements I can help you work out what will fit,” the salesman said when I returned to the desk. “There are three factors I’ll need to know – where the door is, where the soil pipe for your loo is, and where the window is. And if you can use millimetres as well that will be fantastic!” he smiled. “Other than those three things everything else should be relatively flexible.”

Most suites could be in stock in a few weeks, he explained. So what about fitting? “Unfortunately we don’t install but I can recommend a couple of local people who are very good but be warned they will be booked ahead so you may have to wait a while.”

Score: 6/10
An interesting showroom with enough bathroom ideas to get started.




Agua Lounge
Crofton Lane

There were some amazing contemporary designs in this store with fantastic marble flooring to match.

Samantha was working at her desk at the back of the showroom but jumped up to help. “We offer a fully fitted service where we come round to see the room, measure up and discuss your plans,” she began. “This way by the end of the visit, you’ll have an idea of the cost including installation.” She suggested taking a variety of brochures to help work out which designs we liked. “And as we have the tiles here too, you can sort everything out in one place, which should make things simpler for you,” she enthused.

“We’ve used marble in the showroom which is a beautiful natural stone but just be aware each tile may differ slightly in colour,” Samantha said pointing out a darker and lighter tile on the floor next to us. “It also requires sealing as it’s a very porous material but we would take care of everything during the fitting for you.” There were alternatives, she added, showing me a man-made tile. “This is better if you prefer a uniformity of colour and to be honest it’s such a good product that you would find it hard to tell the difference with real marble.”

She handed me a bundle of brochures. “Remember that most baths are stand alone items so you can mix and match with your choice of sink and wc when you see something you like.”
 
Score: 7/10
A surprise to find such an interesting showroom tucked away in this promenade of local shops.




Country Interiors
Station Square

This huge KBSA showroom featured kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms.

Colin was just finishing with a customer. “We have a designer who will come out to see your room, discuss ideas, before drawing up a plan for you,” he advised, “and we have a fully fitted service where we will do as much or as little as you require, including lighting, tiling and even some building work.”

The kitchens were in price groups 1 to 10, he explained. “We offer good quality flat-packed designs, or rigid kitchens starting at price group 5, right through to a hand-made kitchen like this,” he said taking me to a display in the window. “The bespoke range has a framed door showing the detail of the hinges, along with solid wood drawer boxes and can be made in any wood you choose or painted in any colour you want.”

Vinyl wrap doors were next. “There is such an enormous choice now but we can help and advise you once you’ve chosen which style and colour door you like,” he continued. “Here we like to show as many options as possible so customers can see for themselves,” he said, passing me a door sample to feel the weight and quality. Handing me his card, he said. “Give me a call if you’d like to make an appointment and I’ll arrange for the designer to pop out and see you.”

Score: 7/10
A friendly welcome and a good sale to follow. Colin was a pleasure to meet.




The Little Room
Queensway

A pile of brown boxes were just inside the doorway making it difficult to see some of the suites on display.

A solitary salesman was busy on the telephone. As he finished his call he shouted over, “Anything I can help you with?” Next he asked what I wanted to do with the bathroom. “That’s a standard length bath but it’s 800mm wide giving you plenty of room to have a shower,” he said, leaving his desk to join me. “And this shower screen will fold flat to the wall so it’s out of your way when you’re taking a bath,” he continued, moving it to show me. “We’ve got a fixed shower head here but we can fit a hand shower instead which is sometimes easier for hair washing or for rinsing the bath round.”

He suggested taking some brochures away. “These will give you plenty of ideas,” he said, “and we’re very happy to come out to measure up if we’re doing the fitting for you, before giving you a price for everything.”

Score: 6/10
Interesting ranges here despite the difficulty in seeing some of the displays.




Plumb Center
Cray Avenue

Inside to a large bathroom showroom with over a dozen designs. All the suites and showers sparkled under the spotlights and each display was clearly priced.

After walking the circuit of bathrooms, I headed towards two salespeople working at their desks. One saleswoman looked up immediately and offered to help. “If you’re able to bring in some dimensions, I can help you plan out the room on the computer,” she began, telling me exactly what she needed me to measure.

Most of the items in the showroom were available from stock and ready to be delivered in two days, she explained. “Take some brochures today,” she said, grabbing a selection for me from the shelf behind her, “then start marking the styles and designs you like and we can go through these when you come back,” she smiled.

And what about the fitting? “I’m afraid we don’t offer installation ourselves,” she continued. “so you would need to find a plumber first and arrange that directly.”
 
Score 6/10
A good looking showroom but customers would need to arrange their own installation.




Magnet
Cray Avenue

This store sparkled so it was no surprise to see someone busy cleaning the tiled floor.

Everything was spotless under the lights. Each kitchen was “dressed” with accessories to complete the look. A saleswoman approached saying “Are you alright there?” She then asked if I’d seen a kitchen I liked. “It’s important to have a good look round and choose a range before you book an appointment with us,” she explained. “Because when we start the design process, we’ll do this on the range you’ve chosen.”

She suggested bringing in some measurements. “Don’t worry, if you want to go ahead we will come to your house and double check everything for you,” she continued. “Your kitchen will be fully fitted as we work from wall to wall to maximize your available space,” she added. “You have a choice of worktops – this one here is glass,” she continued, smoothing her hand over the surface, “and also available in other colours.”

She handed me a brochure. “Just give me a ring to make an appointment if you want to go ahead,” she finalised.

Score: 7/10
A superb showroom packed with contemporary and traditional ideas.




Bathstore
Cray Avenue

Inside this enormous showroom was split on two floors. The usual bright primary colours on the walls set off the white bath suites and showers.

Martin got up from his desk and came over. “This is a fabulous shower which is 1200 x 800 as so many people are getting rid of the bath now and replacing it was a larger shower instead,” he began. “But this isn’t right for everyone so do consider the re-sale value if you’re thinking of moving house.”

Planning was next. “If you’d like to bring in some dimensions, I can help you design the room on the computer,” he explained. “Just bring as many measurements as you can,” he added, running through what he needed. “And you could have one of these large radiators,” he said, pointing to me one next to him, “to keep your towels nice and hot on a winter’s day.”

Martin was into his selling stride. “I can also give you a list of plumbers who’ve been recommended by customers as we don’t do the installation ourselves,” he stressed. “Take our brochure today as it’s very comprehensive,” he said, passing one to me. “The goods usually arrive within a week and it’s best to have these delivered early so you can double check everything before your fitter arrives.”
 
Score 7/10
The showroom was wonderful and the sales advice was pretty good as well.




Rhino Bedrooms
Crofton Road

Margaret invited me in to have a look round. “I’ll be here to answer any questions or help you but I won’t hassle you,” she smiled. The showroom was spotless with plenty of ideas in quite a compact space.

Joining me a few minutes later Margaret opened a wardrobe door. “Here we’ve got hanging space at one side along with shelving at the other to show how flexible the interior can be,” she began. “So depending on what you need to store we should be able to find a solution for you.”

The designer would come out to our house, discuss our requirements before giving us a complete price, she advised. “All the wardrobes go from floor to ceiling, all full size doors have four hinges for extra strength and the carcases are 18mm so again, very robust,” Margaret said pointing this out.

Wardrobe interiors included double or single hanging, shoe racks, drawers or shelving, she enthused. Each door was available in every design and colour. “This one is called Ivory and is very popular as it’s so versatile,” Margaret continued before offering to make me an appointment. “We offer a free, no obligation, design service which takes about 45 minutes,” she continued. “A plan will be produced for your room, along with a quotation including installation, which we’ll leave with you to consider.”

Margaret was keen to make the sale. “I can put something in the diary for you now as we may have price increases in January so it may help you,” she said pressing me for a date.

Score: 8/10
A wonderful end to the day – an enthusiastic sale with plenty of information.

Winner's Profile

Rhino Bedrooms



"I began working in the industry in 1976," Peter Johnson, md of Rhino explained. "I was involved with the manufacture, design and sales of furniture products working from factory management befoer deciding to start my own business six years ago."

There are now six Rhino outlets based at Locksbottom, Bromley, Enfield, Loughton, Chelmsford and Brentwoord/Hutton being the head office, factory and main showroom. "Sales staff are selected on the basis of proven inter-personal skills and positive attitude towards customer staisfaction," Peter advised. "We try to be a bit quirky. As we're a small family-run company, we're able to give the personal touch to the service we offer customers. All our bedrooms and home offices are manufactured by our own craftsmen in our Brentwood - Hutton factory, emaning we can design, manufacture and install bespoke, fully fitted furniture, as planned, and on time."

"Customer recommendations account for a large percentage of our business," he continued, "but we also use the full range of targeted marketing and advertising methods, such as local press and radio, yellow pages, outdoor campaigns on buses, direct marketing techniques and door-to-door leaflet distribution. Plus of course, web based search engine marketing."

WINNERS
Independent – Rhino Bedrooms
Commended – Agua Lounge and Country Interiors

Multiple – Bathstore