Words: Karen Bell, David Salisbury
Karen Bell, sales and marketing director at David Salisbury, faced the challenges of diversifying into the luxury kitchen market head on, and knows it’s a decision the company will never regret.
It is often underestimated how difficult it is to set up a new business, particularly in an industry as competitive as kitchens.
You have to identify a niche in the market, develop and offer an in-demand product, and then work out how to build brand awareness and sales.
Now those may be the practical considerations, but without drive, determination and a good dose of optimism such bold and well-intentioned plans can so often falter.
With David Salisbury, we have a well-established brand with 40 years of experience successfully delivering bespoke conservatories, orangeries and garden rooms, so the question of brand awareness is a strong starting point.
Our orangery extensions were so often part of a larger project to extend an existing kitchen and create an open plan, light-filled, multi-functional space that meets the needs of modern living.
So, we asked ourselves the question that many customers had posed to us: “Why don’t we make kitchens?”
Looking back, that was a tall task, but at the time we just knuckled down and underwent the rigorous and painstaking task of designing and engineering a product offering that is superior to others.
We were lucky to have the right people already within the business who worked incredibly well as a team
Karen Bell, sales and marketing director, David SalisburyI recall our mantra that “each kitchen cabinet should be a piece of beautifully crafted furniture in its own right” and not a series of units fitted together to form a kitchen.
The high-end kitchen market seemed to be a far cry from this, with veneered MDF or chipboard carcasses being commonplace (even amongst the so-called luxury providers) but branded in a way that they looked great in a photoshoot, but the quality seemed to fall short of the high price tags.
Our existing showroom in Chelsea, which has a freestanding domed orangery, was the perfect backdrop to display our kitchen. This gave us the perfect opportunity to install our first display kitchen and invite potential customers to see the quality of our joinery first-hand.
I don’t think failure to launch a kitchen business was ever considered as an option – possibly as we were all working too hard to think about this, but probably because we were lucky enough to have the right people and skills already within the business who worked incredibly well as a team.
We haven’t looked back and we’ve seen steep growth in kitchen sales which has been an exciting journey for everyone involved, including our staff, trade partners and suppliers – and, most importantly, our loyal and valued customers.
Points of interest
Considering diversifying? Here are some key points to consider:
Diversify your product range – consider how to expand beyond your traditional offerings by incorporating eco-friendly or smart appliances, which are increasingly popular among environmentally conscious and tech-savvy customers.
Focus on quality – ensure your marketing highlights the quality of your materials, the durability and environmental benefits of your products.
Embrace new technology – Explore AR and VR tools to offer a virtual kitchen design experience, allowing customers to visualise their new kitchens before committing, enhancing their purchasing confidence.