Homebase/B&Q/Wickes kitchens

Claire_xx

This all started because people wanted to know where to get a good deal on their kitchen. In my oppinion if you would like a decent quality kitchen at a reasonable price with decent quality appliances then there is no reason why you shouldnt stick with the DIY sheds such as Wickes and B&Q. Homebase (sorry guys) arent really on the same playing field - Poor quality.

They will be flexible on price so talk to the Designer about what you want. Be honest about your budget and they will do their best for you to meet your requirments. When you have agreed on a price for the kitchen see what else they will offer such as FREE delivery on supplementary items (tiles, flooring, plasterboard etc) delivered from the store.

Wickes Kitchen and Bathroom Specialists are all trained on Electrolux, Zanussi and AEG appliances and will be able to advise you fully on your choices (youll probably get one appliance chucked in for free)

So its happy days all round x

Claire_xx

BLUis wrote: »

Does anyone work for B&Q here? Just wondering if you know if the Cooke and Lewis kitchens will be on offer again Bank Holiday wknd?

Thanks!

I would guess they will be - Wickes is and they normally run at the same sorts of times x :money:

Claire_xx

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Claire,

As an independent specialist I am glad we don't compete on price with the likes of B&Q and Wickes. To be fair I don't think that the DIY stores are cheaper because of their buying power, I think its because it is a cheaper product. For instance have you seen the John Lewis own brand range of kitchens? These have rigid glue and dowel colour matched to the door carcases made of 19mm MFC with Blum softclose drawers with drawer management systems and softclose doors as standard. There is a much larger range of unit sizes available and they have a 10 year guarantee. The John Lewis range of kitchens is made for them by Mereway in Birmingham. Mereway is widely regarded in the industry as the best mass produced manufacturer of kitchens in the UK. As an independent we sell 2 different manufacturers of kitchens of which Mereway is our cheaper range and we can sell this quite a bit cheaper than John Lewis as we don't have the same overheads.

Also as an indepent kitchen specialist we specialise in Miele appliances and as company they would not supply the DIY stores as they would not be able to meet the criteria for having a Miele account.

I think over all its just different markets and you really do get what you pay for.

I would agree that the DIY kitchens are a different quality. SOME of the independants offer a superb product which is top of the range but in my area you really do pay far more! :money:Keep the pennies in your pocket and get yourself a lovely kitchen without paying over the odds :T:T:T:T

CKdesigner

Hi Claire, You seem really nice and you obviously care about your customers, but there is a whole different world of kitchens out there.

Obviously I don't know anything about you but depending on your age and experience - if I were you I would learn as much as I could from Wickes and then when you feel confident (if you don't already) have a look around at the independent sector. Have a look at the top, take a walk down Wigmore Street in London, you will see amazing things down there. These kitchen specialists design kitchens that start from £50k and regularly sell kitchens over £100k, you may feel now that this is silly but believe me if you have that kind of money to spend on a kitchen you would! Take it from me as an owner/designer in an independent specialist who sells these types of kitchens you would love the freedom and ability to design exactly what your customer requires. We can do absolutely any colour in mat, textured and gloss lacquers, any woods in solid or veneer again mat or gloss finishes. We can make any unit to pretty much any dimension, so we can make the kitchen exactley fit the room.

Sorry for going on, but it is so much nicer to design and sell kitchens where quality is the main criteria not the price.

Claire_xx

I agree totally. I do swoon over some of the amazing kitchens out there and your totally right. There is a little independant near us and I often mystery shop them. The quality, varitey and options available are excellent.

Some people do have massive ammounts of money to spend and those people would expect a bespoke kitchen which they are unlikely to see in the background of Eastenders, however other people just want a nice kitchen, delivered on time, which goes together well and looks beautiful.

Two different ends of the scale and like I said right at the begining its horses for courses!! I love my kitchen which cost me 3k but I would really really love one that costs 50k........................ If someone else is paying for it.

One last point... People who are shopping in Wickes, B&Q or Homebase probably dont have 50-100k to spend on a kitchen!! those people just dont shop with us.

Its nice to BUY kitchens where quality is the main criteria not the price - But I need my money in the bank

Claire_xx

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Claire, You seem really nice and you obviously care about your customers, but there is a whole different world of kitchens out there.

Obviously I don't know anything about you but depending on your age and experience - if I were you I would learn as much as I could from Wickes and then when you feel confident (if you don't already) have a look around at the independent sector. Have a look at the top, take a walk down Wigmore Street in London, you will see amazing things down there. These kitchen specialists design kitchens that start from £50k and regularly sell kitchens over £100k, you may feel now that this is silly but believe me if you have that kind of money to spend on a kitchen you would! Take it from me as an owner/designer in an independent specialist who sells these types of kitchens you would love the freedom and ability to design exactly what your customer requires. We can do absolutely any colour in mat, textured and gloss lacquers, any woods in solid or veneer again mat or gloss finishes. We can make any unit to pretty much any dimension, so we can make the kitchen exactley fit the room.

Sorry for going on, but it is so much nicer to design and sell kitchens where quality is the main criteria not the price.

Im a Customer Service Manager not a designer and I am very happy with the service I and my team are offering, personally if I wasnt happy I would move somewhere else!!

Meepster

CKdesigner wrote: »

It must have been a while ago that you worked for AshleyAnn as Miele have had these stockists agreements with lots of criteria for the last 7 years. You have to display a minimum of 5 built in peices in every shop if a built in dealer, and a minimum of 7 peices if free standing and the more you display the better your trade terms are (only slightly though).

Nope, only left them 2 months ago. They were buying from Maurice Lay, up until November last year, when Miele offered to give them a direct account.

Meepster

Claire_xx wrote: »

Im a Customer Service Manager not a designer and I am very happy with the service I and my team are offering, personally if I wasnt happy I would move somewhere else!!

Claire - why don't you make the cross-over to DC? I know the basic is poor, but I was earning twice as much as I ever did as a CSM with much better hours and less stress.

CKdesigner

mwilletts wrote: »

Nope, only left them 2 months ago. They were buying from Maurice Lay, up until November last year, when Miele offered to give them a direct account.

Hi Mr Willetts,

I think I did mention that Maurice Lay is the only official distributor for Miele products and obviously you don't need to display any Miele if you purchase from Maurice Lay at their trade prices that are far higher than a proper Miele dealers buying in prices.

But, there is no question - to have a direct account with Miele with proper trade terms you have to display the required number of appliances and meet the rest of their criteria. I know this 100% as I did actually help with the original agreements 6 or 7 years ago.

Meepster

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Mr Willetts,

I think I did mention that Maurice Lay is the only official distributor for Miele products and obviously you don't need to display any Miele if you purchase from Maurice Lay at their trade prices that are far higher than a proper Miele dealers buying in prices.

But, there is no question - to have a direct account with Miele with proper trade terms you have to display the required number of appliances and meet the rest of their criteria. I know this 100% as I did actually help with the original agreements 6 or 7 years ago.

I think you misunderstood me CKdesigner.

They WERE using ML for Miele.
They NOW have a direct account with Miele and don't have ANY appliances on display. As I said, they were talking about putting 1 Miele appliance into 2 of their 7 showrooms. They were going to put Miele into the Metris display, but decided to go for Gaggenau instead...