Kitchen specialist Magnet has received a cash injection from Scandinavian parent Nobia to roll out the 'next generation' of showrooms.
The retailer has achieved a significant uplift in sales based on a prototype footprint in Chester, which uses retail theatre such as plasma screens and artificial cooking smells to seduce customers.
Nobia, Europe's largest kitchen manufacturer, has decided it will give an extra SEK100 million (£7.5 million) to Magnet next year. Three new high-profile London stores will be unveiled on Christmas Eve in Kensington High Street, Wigmore Street and Kentish Town. Managing director Gary Favell is convinced Magnet will pose a 'serious threat' to other players in the fitted kitchens market and believes its greater customer focus provides a vital selling point.
'Customers have to be made to feel different when they part with what is the biggest amount of money after their house and car,' said Favell.
'We have put the theatre back into it. The independent sector is very fragmented so there is a big opportunity for us.'
Since Nobia's acquisition of Magnet in 2001, the focus has been on developing footprints that correspond more to the purchasing experience patterns among shoppers. The parent has also agreed to fund the company for a three-year upgrade of 150 stores.
Magnet also has a UK trade division and works within its 208-store estate in a variety of formats.
No comments yet