German kitchen- Hacker vs Schuller?

pramster-uk

Hello,
I'm looking to get a German kitchen, and have had similar quotes from two different kitchen showrooms for a Hacker Systemat Art and Schuller C3.

Does anyone here have any experience with these, and give any tips as to pro's or con's of either? I've heard that Hacker is supposed to be a slightly better brand than Schuller, but not sure how much truth there is in that.

Cheers,
Pramster

CKdesigner

Hi Pramster-uk

The short answer in terms of kitchen quality is that there is nothing in it!

I've been in the kitchen industry 20 + years and have designed and sold German kitchens for most of that time. I also visit Germany at least once a year to go to various exhibitions to see the latest innovations from the various German kitchen manufacturers.

I am very familiar with both makes and my preference is Schueller for several reasons, some because I feel fundamentally the quality of some components is slightly better. I think Schueller has a slightly bigger range to choose from, and has a more versatile range of units and components to choose from, which generally allows me to make a better kitchen design. And also I choose Schueller as I feel more comfortable working with them as they are a family business. We are are a family business, and our 2 main suppliers are also family businesses, Schueller and Miele!

But having said all this, if you have 2 kitchen quotations from different independent kitchen specialists that are basically the same sort of money, then rather than worrying about which make of mid-range German kitchens they supply, think more about which design you prefer? Which company you feel more confident with, that will 'deliver' your new kitchen with the least amount of fuss, will essentially look after you better? Were you recommended to either company? Have you visited previous customers that have had a good experience with either company?

Lastly - a little tip about Schueller worth considering. Schueller also have a more upmarket brand called Next125, these kitchens have a few more luxury touches as standard, and with the right kitchen specialist a Next125 kitchen would not be very much more than a Schueller C3 kitchen!

Good luck

CK

pramster-uk

Hi CK,
Thanks a lot, I appreciate your advice!

The supplier with the Schuller C3 range also does the Next 125 line, so I am planning to pop into them this week to take a closer look at this, and see how the quotes compare.

Cheers,
Pramster

pramster-uk

Hi CK,
I went into the dealer today that had the Hacker kitchen, but found out that they stopped selling Hacker kitchens, and had now moved onto Pronorm kitchens, as they felt the kitchens were slightly better value for money. I had the quote from them last year, which is how I only found out about this now.

So they are going to quote me on a Pronorm Y-Line kitchen...and I was wondering what your experience was with Pronorm?

Cheers,
Pramster

CKdesigner

Hi Pramster

Pronorm I would expect to be a bit cheaper, but as always there are reasons for this. If ultimately you want a German kitchen for a bit less money then see what the Pronorm cost is, but if you were happy with the original Hacker / Schueller budget then I would say stick to those.

But again its more about which designer you feel will work better with / for you.

We have been a Schueller dealer for 5 or 6 years now and every year our turnover with them increases, so now we are easily in the top 10% of Schueller dealers in the UK. And because of this almost on a monthly basis we get representatives from other German kitchen companies wanting us to add their brand to our range or swap altogether to them. We have looked and continue to look, we have even tried others but in the end we stick with Schueller as our main brand because we just feel they get 'more right' than any other mid range German kitchen manufacturer.

Glad to help further if I can.

CK