The previous occupants of Steve Brooks' new kitchen and bathroom showroom were a couple of tramps he had to pay a fiver each to get rid of. It gives you an idea of the state the place was in last September when he bought it.
Formerly an old motorbike garage in Warrington, Cheshire, the property was completely derelict and didn't even have a roof. But on the day of my visit, just four days after opening, things look very different.

The impressive 4000sq ft ground floor features brand new displays from German manufacturer Pronorm while the bathroom section on the first floor houses products from Roca, Kudos and Ideal Standard. They've even got Wayne Rooney's girlfriend, Coleen McLoughlin, coming down for the official opening, but only if they can drag her out of the local sunbed shop.

The fit out hasn't come cheap though. Brooks estimates he's had to raise about £900,000 for the project, mainly by selling various local properties. He also tells me he's been spending about 14 hours a day getting the showroom up and running.

"The store was designed out in Germany, but we met in the middle over the designs," he explains. "I've put a lot of faith in what's being sold in other Pronorm branches, but I've had a lot of input with some of the other displays. Our latest door is earth brown for example. We also do things like teak back panels and the more exotic wood grains. Oak has been popular up to now but this is the next step."

It's easy to see why Brooks chose this particular location. Not only is it near the entrance to a huge Tesco supermarket, but it's on the same road as the Warrington Wolves rugby stadium. "On match days, fans are five deep at the window," Brooks tells me, "and the Tesco here gets about 8000 people a day through its doors. Two thousand cars have to come past my showroom to get in. If you ever want to do any research on the kind of customers you're likely to attract, it's worth writing to a local supermarket for their consumer statistics. They're coming from the section of the market we want to target."

A former Warrington Wolves player himself, Brooks is now something of an industry veteran on the fitting side, although this is his first venture into retail. The original idea was to rent the place out, but when he found out the landlord was planning to put a gym on the first floor he decided to buy it instead.

Streamlined

"What I've tried to do with the showroom is to streamline it in a way that dedicates us solely to Pronorm," he explains. "We're also the biggest Neff outlet in the north-west with 42 appliances on display. I wanted to offer kitchens that encapsulated the feel of German quality rather than use 30 different suppliers and not know much about any of them."

So how easy is it to open a retail showroom when your background is in installation? "A lot of people think I'm just another fitter opening a corner shop with a big room at the back with Egger boarding, but there are too many people doing that," he says. "I'm looking for an average spend of £25,000 plus."

What appealed to him about Pronorm is that nobody else in the area appeared to be looking at the same kind of market, or if they were, they were in the wrong location. "In Warrington, stores predominantly use Symphony or PJH," he says, "or they buy their doors from PWS or TKC, essentially buying the same product. It's pointless jumping on that bandwagon."
The kitchen section features nine displays, each one given plenty of space to breathe. A typical journey round the ground floor, he explains, begins with a window display featuring three styles of kitchen. Two are contemporary - Pronorm's Wallis Plum and Burgundy gloss Primeline - while a third is a more traditional oak design.

"I deliberately chose red as a bit of a feature, then something totally the other end of the scale with the wood," he explains. "Passers by can see three different styles, just by looking through this one point of the window. My one regret is that I didn't do one more traditional kitchen. Pronorm is centred on contemporary, but we're there now and we have to go with what we've got."

One aspect of the showroom Brooks says he's taken great care with is the lighting. "Showrooms make the mistake of making them too bright so you can't see what the actual kitchen lighting does," he says. "Instead I've created walkway lighting with directional halogen lights. I was insistent on that and also on the music system. I wanted people to feel comfortable when they were walking round. I didn't want them having to whisper."

The store also has a useful agreement with a local radio station. "We're doing an advert with Wire FM," Brooks explains. "What we do is download it as a podcast, choose our music, and every 10 songs put our advert on."

Towards the back of the store is what Brooks calls the 'Workshop Advice Area', an idea taken from Pronorm's main showroom over in Germany. "We wanted to create a clutter-free area where you can come to choose your doors, handles, worktops and lighting, something separate."

The section is railed off from the displays and features a bamboo floor, designed to age quickly to deliberately give an old fashioned, well-worn look. Presentations are given here using a screen on the wall. There's also a 'Kid's Area' nearby with a small sofa, lego and a DVD player. Keeping a customer's children occupied is something Brooks says can be critical to the success of a sale. "I've asked customers why they didn't go to certain showrooms in the past and the amount who complained there was nothing for the kids to do was unbelievable."

Control freak

Presentations are given in Compusoft. "They're the best on the market," he insists. "I'm a bit of a control freak on buying prices, they have to be right. Every Monday you download the latest prices. It does it all for you."
Brooks argues that the back of the store is the best place to talk business. "The reason I built the railings is because once people are in, we've got them," he laughs. "They're the furthest we can get them from the door, and they're much more inclined to talk to you."

Upstairs in the bathroom section it's clear that things are still a bit of a work in progress with some of the displays not yet fitted out. However, the area is nearly as large as the one below with Roca heavily featured. There's a separate high street entrance to this side and Brooks has aimed to make a strong initial impact. Above a Roca bath are written the words, 'Splish splash I was taking a bath' in bold blue lettering. "We thought, shall we tile it like most stores or do something different? At least this makes you smile, and Roca loved it."

Ultimately, Brooks seems confident that the new project will succeed, despite admitting market conditions are toughening. Other stores are already planned for Knutsford and Southport.

"I want to get my money back over a period of about three to four years," he concludes.

"I've had six or seven staff employed for the last six months which is heavy outlay when you're not making any money. I'll be in charge of the project management and installation side. We've got about 23 measures booked just through opening the doors. It's early days but so far business is going very well."