Retailer profile: RidgeWey
Winner of our new kitchen retailer of the year award, Stuart Luckman, owner of RidgeWey, met with George Dean to explain the unique challenges involved in getting a luxury retail business off to a running start
Although he can proudly call himself the country’s best and brightest new kitchen retailer – at least, until the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025 – Stuart Luckman is no stranger to the KBB industry. He tells me, almost incredulously: “This will be my 24th year designing kitchens and interiors.”
Having left university with a degree in interior design, Luckman has always worked at the premium end of the industry. His past includes several positions in London’s West End showrooms, including almost a decade spent in Knightsbridge selling Poggenpohl. But several years ago, he left the industry to change careers.
After 17 years in the industry Luckman chose to change direction and took a position as Director for a business outside of the industry where he gained a valuable understanding of business dynamics and economics, along with managing fellow directors and shareholders.
“After just a couple of years, I found that I really missed designing. When you’ve been doing it for as long as I have, you can really miss being part of that process.”
Combining the business experience he gained outside the sector with his decades of luxury retail knowledge, opening RidgeWey seemed like the natural step to pull all the threads of his career together.
Projecting premium
At around 1,800 sq ft, the showroom space is comfortably roomy, but it houses few physical displays. In terms of kitchens, there are only five – admittedly sizeable – displays, along with a selection of dining and seating areas, an interior design department and a walk-in wine storage room.
According to Luckman, this minimalist effect is all part of a carefully crafted strategy. He imparts: “You want your showroom to be your showcase, and your customers to see the latest and greatest. You don’t want to fill it up with tiny displays showing them every little thing you can do – you need to communicate that you can do anything, without actually telling them.”
It’s an effect that definitely works, with the overarching atmosphere being a showroom space of curated luxury ideas. Siemens, Gaggenau, Bora, Miele and Sub-Zero & Wolf appliances are the finishing touches to the Siematic displays, each of which effortlessly projects an image of premium opulence. The effect is amplified further by a wide panoramic window at the front of the store, inviting onlookers to sneak a peek inside.
Luckman says that although customers are welcomed with open arms, RidgeWey works hard to curate its image to attract the right client.
“At this end of the market, customers might not see the end of their project for six, nine or even 18 months, so you need to reassure them that you know what you’re doing. It’s a leap of faith from their point of view, and you need to have the right elements to associate a feeling of luxury with your business.”
Another thing that sets RidgeWey apart from other studios is that it also undertakes whole house interior design projects. “We wanted to be more than just another kitchen retailer and lean into our Interior Design elements to enhance the showroom and add to our aesthetic, including beautiful feature lighting and soft furnishings,” Luckman says, “the majority our quotes include interior design elements, either chosen from the showroom or a bespoke design for a particular client.”
Still, luxury clients can be found in every town in the country. So why did Luckman open a new showroom in Weybridge, when most of his retail career until this point has been in high-end London showrooms?
He explains: “I wanted a location that would be more of a destination, instead of necessarily just on the high street. We waited for the right location and here on the Queen’s Road we sit comfortably, next to other high end service providers such as Savills, an art gallery and various hair salons, fashion boutiques, dentists and aesthetic clinics.”
I’m interested to hear what Luckman’s learned going from showroom employee to showroom owner. He thinks it’s been a great opportunity to right any wrongs he’s seen in other showrooms he’s worked at. He explains: “If you have your own studio, you might as well write your own rulebook. Anything that’s bugged you, or even if there are any principles that you thought worked really well, you can incorporate.”
An interesting example is the showroom’s slightly unorthodox opening hours. Most days, the showroom doesn’t open for business until 10am, and it closes its doors at around 4:30pm – although the team do open later for appointments.
Luckman says, “I can visit project sites and still be here before the doors open. meet with clients, builders and contractors and have a team meeting, all before the doors open to the public.”
A historic moment
In the business’ history, there has only been a single time the team weren’t actually at the showroom during opening hours, and that was for their big win at this year’s kbbreview Awards. With a (very deserved) sense of pride, Luckman says: “That was the only time I ever put a sign up, and that was to tell people that we were up for a national award. It’s a team achievement – we didn’t want to leave anyone behind.”
Following RidgeWey’s win, Luckman shows me the award display area the team have created, staged in the pantry of a kitchen display. He jokingly tells me that the bright and floral award is the one slightly discordant element in the whole space. Ever the detail-oriented designer, he’s made it work by also displaying a team photo in a gold frame, cleverly matched with the kitchen display’s gold handles.
Interestingly, for the showroom’s opening last May, the team decided to forgo a public opening ceremony. Instead RidgeWey is hosting more intimate events with its partners and suppliers, such as a Cristal and Canapes reception for local architects and designers.
Following its successful first year, Luckman and his team don’t plan to rest on their laurels, but he humbly tells me that his main goal is to continue completing projects that have been in the pipeline.
“The days of people making decisions in weeks is gone – it’s now months. We’re fortunate that we’ve quoted for a number of projects, and now they’re coming through.
“Obviously, the bigger the property, the longer the build. So it’ll be great to see those come to fruition over the next year.”