Perspex screens and overt social distancing signs could ruin the ambience of the showroom to the point the customer experience is compromised, says Sam Colwill, owner of award-winning London retailer BathroomsByDesign.
Speaking on the latest episode of The kbbreview Podcast, Colwill (pictured) said that, for him, common sense should prevail and while everyone should act responsibly, the nature of his showrooms means social distancing is not difficult to achieve without them.
“Our showrooms are not high traffic areas,” he said. “At any given time we might have two or possibly three customers in, so there’s enough space to keep the distance between customers and designers by at least the two metres needed.
“So we haven’t felt it quite necessary to go the levels of having screens and markings so I guess it’s common sense and relying on people to be sensible.”
BathroomsByDesign was opened 13 years ago and has showrooms in Richmond, Brentford, and Fulham.
Colwill went on to say that screens and too many signs damage the feel of the showroom, and that in turn could affect the consumer experience.
“[You’re] walking in somewhere where you’re making a key decision about your home. You’re looking for inspiration, you’re looking to be creative and speak to an expert – and then you have a perspex screen between you and all kinds of warnings and reminders of what’s been going on.
“It just doesn’t feel like that’s what we should be going for. We should almost treat our showrooms as a safe haven from all that. Yes, we need to act responsibly, but we don’t want we don’t want people to feel like they’re in an environment like that. We want them to relax. We want them to really be absorbed in the in the whole experience.”
You can hear the full interview with Sam Colwill on the latest episode of The kbbreview Podcast. To listen direct, click here, or search ‘kbbreview’ in your podcast app where you can also subscribe.