High Style Surrounds Showroom Appliance
Offerings
By Steven Shaw
CANTON, MA A 36-seat amphitheater, a conference room, 4,800 square
feet of office and back area space it sounds like a venue where
major deals are cooked up. Add in nine separate, highly styled
kitchen vignettes and a live kitchen complete with an on-site chef
and you have a kitchen showroom where big business does take place.
The Hadco showroom, which opened here in October, is a venue
where designers and the public are welcome to peruse high-end
kitchen appliances in an upscale setting. While Tom Cutler, v.p.
and general manager of Hadco in New England, describes the building
itself as “a garden-variety industrial building,” nothing about the
interior is standard fare. As visitors walk in under a barrel vault
ceiling, they are presented with vignettes up front and along the
left side. Offices are located through glass panels.
“There are nine separate kitchen vignettes, and then the main
showroom area, where we have the theater and all sorts of
exhibits,” he reports. Exhibits located in the main area include an
extensive array of products for clients to review. “We have a wall
of wall ovens, a line of professional ranges, a line of cooktops, a
wall of dishwashers, and a wall of ventilators,” Cutler notes.
While the vignettes are not live, Cutler stresses that the
appliances in the vignettes which include products from Bosch,
Thermador, Gaggenau, FiveStar, AGA, Scotsman and Cabana Kitchens
can be found live in the training area, which is located in the
center of the amphitheater. Since Hadco is in the premium domestic
kitchen appliance business, the showroom focuses on this
aspect.
The amphitheater itself doubles as a training facility, as well
as an area for customers to try out appliances before they buy
them. “If you’re going to spend $4,000 or $5,000 on a complicated
oven, it would behoove you to come down and try it out to make sure
that you’re happy with it before you buy,” remarks Cutler.
“We have a chef on staff to take you through some of your
favorite recipes with the proposed new piece, so you can take it
for a test drive. We have cooktops and ovens that are live; you can
come down and kind of play with them to make sure the product is
what you want.”
Cutler adds that, once a customer buys the appliance, the person
is invited back for a care-and-use class which is also held in the
amphitheater.
Design Help
Among the designers involved in the development of the vignettes
was Dalia Tamari of Dalia Kitchen Designs, who was called due to
her company’s strong working relationship with Hadco, according to
Yael Tamari, executive director of Dalia Kitchen Designs. “Hadco
often recommends us to its customers for designing,” she
remarks.
Dalia Kitchen Designs works with several vendors in the very
high-end custom cabinetry business, according to Tamari. “We sat
down with the managers of Hadco and picked what we thought would be
the most beautiful.”
The three completed vignettes, designed by Andre Julien of
Canada, Mark Wilkinson Furniture and Chalon of Great Britain, are
traditional, according to Tamari. The custom Julien design is
featured in a taupe/walnut combo, while the Chalon room
incorporates a prefinished, distressed old country look. The
Wilkinson vignette uses very unique design details, according to
Tamari, “since the furniture is usually purchased primed, and
painted artistically later.”
“Dalia Kitchen Design’s kitchens are among the highlights of our
complex,” Cutler reports. “Their work incorporates our appliance
products perfectly and displays them at their very best.”
With three vignettes from Dalia at the Hadco showroom, Tamari
adds that the location actually functions as an additional showroom
for Dalia Kitchen Designs.
Spreading the Word
In order to introduce the showroom to the community, Hadco has
participated in a several trade organization events. “We hosted an
NKBA evening, with a speaker. Our chef cooked for more than 100
people,” notes Cutler. “And, we’ve done the same for NARI.”
Cutler adds that, at least once a month, Hadco tries to also
have a consumer event. “In November, we had ‘Five Ways to Cook a
Turkey.’ People came just before Thanksgiving to get some ideas on
different ways to prepare a turkey,” he said.
Hadco has also taken out some print ads in Boston Magazine, and
has begun an aggressive campaign with its dealers. “We encourage
them to send their people here, since we have dealer training,”
Cutler says. “Our partnerships are very important to us.”