Supply Only Kitchen

stayhigh149

Hi, this is my first post - so be gentle!
After 27 years of faithful service our John Lewis cabinets are showing their age - tho the worktop & doors were replaced some 15-18 years ago & are still good.
She (who must be obeyed) has decided on a 3rd generation - French Provincial thro' Shaker to sleek Gloss Slab.
On past performance, our first port of call was JL and we're taken by the House range and a combo of Pearl Basalt & Bardolino Grey doors/cabinets.
This is a sub-set of the Mereway Cucina Colore range.
As happened previously, we are seeking the supply of units alone and will be sourcing all other items separately.
We have looked at other suppliers (Wren, Howdens, Benchmarx, etc) but have been discounted because they can't match the style/look of the JL offer.
So, I'm seeking advice as to which other companies might have a similar range of doors/cabinets and who might supply them.
I'm aware of the German 'usual suspects' but I fear that getting a 'supply only' deal might be problematic. Since the look we're after could be seen as very continental, I have a feeling that these guys would have the best solution.
Any advice/leads/suggestions would be most welcome.
S/H

CKdesigner

Hi S/H

Firstly welcome to the forum!

I used to work for John Lewis many years ago now and will always be grateful to them as they played a part in giving me some of the knowledge and skills to enable me (and the other half ) to open our own kitchen specialist business 14 years ago now!

We specialise in a couple of German made kitchens and are also looking at an Italian one that is looking very promising!

S/H if you want supply only of a German made kitchen this shouldn't be a problem. If you are not looking for 'design expertise' and just want to replace what you have then I would suggest you create a plan and a list of units, give a couple of specialists that do the German kitchens you want a call, make sure they are happy to do supply only (as I would) and then take the information you have along to them, and if it's fairly simple they should be able to price it up for you within a few minutes.

I would also like to mention that as you have said that you would like to get work surface and appliances elsewhere, have a chat with the kitchen specialist about this as you would most likely find they would be able to supply you at prices no different (sometimes better) than you can find online. This makes things far simpler and less risky for you.

Good luck

CK

onomatopoeia99

Is it difficult to get supply only?

I wanted some extra units for my CRM (Omega) kitchen and I went to one of their retailers (Leekes as they were nearest) and sat down with a chap who had the big catalogue of all the units - not the glossy one with lovely photos, but the technical one with measurements that us mortals can't get (!) - and found things to my specification, which he ordrered to be delivered to my house for me to install.

Took me a while as I had to go to a retailer that dealt with Omega and we had to track down the right things (which I could have done on my own in advance, were the information available), but they didn't baulk at just supplying units.

stayhigh149

CK & Ono-etc!
Thanks for your input.
My (limited) experience has revealed a certain reluctance from some companies to reveal the technical 'stuff' without putting us thro this 'design' process - sometimes I feel that I'm talking Martian when I ask.
However, from my research today I can get an alternative quote from a Mereway dealer and I'll plug away at some of the German companies (maybe Schueller, for example!!!!).
Cheers S/H

Furts

stayhigh149 wrote: »

CK & Ono-etc!
Thanks for your input.
My (limited) experience has revealed a certain reluctance from some companies to reveal the technical 'stuff' without putting us thro this 'design' process - sometimes I feel that I'm talking Martian when I ask.
However, from my research today I can get an alternative quote from a Mereway dealer and I'll plug away at some of the German companies (maybe Schueller, for example!!!!).
Cheers S/H

If you go to your local, reputable, and kitchen or business orientated, builders merchant they will be able to supply any kitchen you require on a supply only basis. Obviously exceptions could be a if a range is "exclusive" to a certain retailer. I suspect they would also get you German kitchens, even though there are supposed to be exclusive deals made with independent retailers. Grey markets exist, and importing units also exists. But if all else fails, or if you have the desire, a kitchen could be made to your requirement and supplied through a builders merchant.

CKdesigner

Hi S/H

There are several German middle market kitchen manufacturers, of which Schueller is one and very hard to beat! If you want a Schueller kitchen then you have to go to a Schueller dealer. You can not go to a builders merchant or corner shop or direct to Schueller to buy a Schueller kitchen. You can only purchase a Schueller kitchen from a Schueller kitchen specialist retailer.

If you send me a pm I may be able to suggest a Schueller dealer reasonably close to you that is happy to do supply only.

CK

kokolino23

We bought a german product as well - ballerina kitchens, just google them.
VERY pleased with the quality, they come already assambled so you can fit the kitchen yourself if skilled enough.
The price was very competitive and their sales person quoted us 1k cheaper than the best price we had!
I'm not sure if they have someone nationally though... we live in Cardiff.

Slaphead

stayhigh149 wrote: »

My (limited) experience has revealed a certain reluctance from some companies to reveal the technical 'stuff' without putting us thro this 'design' process - sometimes I feel that I'm talking Martian when I ask.

Ditto!
I am mourning the demise of MFI. I would just like a decent list of what size/what price. I have now been to about 4 showrooms who mysteriously have no brochures/price lists, but can "send you one in the post".

I am getting so desperate I am going to bite the bullet and try B&Q!

CKdesigner

Slaphead wrote: »

Ditto!
I am mourning the demise of MFI. I would just like a decent list of what size/what price. I have now been to about 4 showrooms who mysteriously have no brochures/price lists, but can "send you one in the post".

I am getting so desperate I am going to bite the bullet and try B&Q!

Hi

To be honest I'm struggling to understand why it would seem that so many people are finding issues with so many kitchen specialists, this is crazy and just shouldn't be happening.

Sure you won't find a list of units and their prices to take away, but certainly on our part this isn't because we are hiding anything, it's just simply because we get 2 sales manuals from each of our German kitchen suppliers and that are enormous binders with well over 1000 pages in each, so it's impractical to give this to anyone without the knowledge of how it all works.

I fairly regularly have people come to our showroom with a plan they have done to various degrees of quality, we select a range etc. We go through each unit and if I have time then I will go through the sales manual and price everything in front of the customer there and then. Sometimes I'm short of time or its a bit more of a complicated design, then I will take the customer's phone number and give them a call with the prices later. It's not rocket science!

Sure normally we do the whole site survey, design and customer service thing but we are always happy to price up 'walk ins'!

CK

onomatopoeia99

CKdesigner wrote: »

To be honest I'm struggling to understand why it would seem that so many people are finding issues with so many kitchen specialists, this is crazy and just shouldn't be happening.

Sure you won't find a list of units and their prices to take away, but certainly on our part this isn't because we are hiding anything, it's just simply because we get 2 sales manuals from each of our German kitchen suppliers and that are enormous binders with well over 1000 pages in each, so it's impractical to give this to anyone without the knowledge of how it all works.

I'm guessing that many people want a complete service, from design, to selection of range and accessories to installation when they order a kitchen. Then there are people like me that like to know what can be had in what sizes, then like to design it themselves armed with that knowledge, order the parts and install it all themselves.

The service offered by both independents and a lot of the chains is generally targetted at the former in my experience, so I'm guessing someone like me that wants to do the whole thing themselves, from design through to install and that also wants units better than a basic B&Q flatpack kitchen is not a large part of the market, as no-one seems set up to cope with it apart from the likes of DIY kitchens (these days - or MFI back when I was growing up). Omega told me I had to go and talk to a designer at one of their stockists, they would not give me the technical catalogue with all the unit types and dimensions (which when I saw it in the shop was not difficult to understand), only the glossy brochure.

I've made sure I installed everything square and aligned so it looks good and the runs are all straight, no odd gaps or anything like that. I suppose I don't see why the manufacturers don't make life a bit easier for people like me that want supply only, no design, no install, by providing technical data - PDFs would be fine, I don't need a printed catalogue - so I can turn up at one of their retailers with a list and buy it. Perhaps we aren't a big enough market.