Mixed KBB retail sales in December

Kitchen and bathroom retailers have reported mixed sales in December, with some showrooms describing the Christmas holidays as “amazing” with others citing a “slow start” to the year.

Members of the Kitchen Bedroom Bathroom Specialists Association (KBSA) had divided views in its latest Member Monitor.

Ben Sambrook, bathroom designer at Ream Kitchens, Bedrooms, Bathrooms in Gillingham and Eltham said the company had an amazing holiday period, with New Year’s Day being fantastic. According to Sambrook, the diary is full of quotes and orders. Sambrook believes it’s because they’re a renowned company locally, and also because they’re running a VAT-free deal in January.

However Phil Gibson of InToto in Cheam was quoted as saying it had been a quiet start since the beginning of January. But the national franchise is now entering into a sales period and the showroom is now seeing a few more enquiries and starting to do quotes, which Gibson hopes will see the business through to the spring.

Abacus Kitchens in Henley-in-Arden and Solihull also suffered with poor sales before Christmas, but is finding it slowly improving. Mike Kentish says the company has to compete with self-employed fitters but he is now also running a VAT-free deal.

Roger Hibbert of The Kitchen Showroom in Sudbury looked to advertising to drive business, using social media. Hibbert said: “We’ve been very pro-active. We use Facebook and Twitter and update the website regularly.” During Christmas and New Year, he opened the showroom and said: “One couple even came from over an hour away because they liked what they saw on the website.”

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