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Builders merchant chain Wolseley UK plans to double the number of kitchen studio showrooms it will open across the UK.
The group, which owns the Build Center, Plumb Center and Bathstore brands already has five kitchen studios: Bodmin, Portleven, Swindon, Leicester and Wetherby, with two more to open in Eastbourne and Crawley this week.
Five more studios are promised for the immediate future.
The Eastbourne branch will be a stand-alone kitchen operation, although most of the others will be part of existing Build Center branches.
Each will feature a dedicated sales consultant, with advice on planning with computer-aided design, buying and fitting a kitchen.
Wolseley sales manager Brian East said of the move: “Setting up showrooms with dedicated consultants has proved amazingly successful. While we initially planned just five or six, demand means we’re now looking at double that figure.”
The news comes just a week after Travis Perkins confirmed that its Wickes retail brand will open smaller format stores kitchen and bathroom stores in the UK.
B&Q UK and Ireland also posted a 7% sales increase in kitchen and bathroom, which the DIY giant attributed to greater investment in new ranges and showroom revamps, as well as competitor withdrawal form the market.
