This post is not all about
kitchen cabinets but it shows how
the construction industry has evolved and how home owners have more information
prior to construction.
Many years ago when someone wanted to build a home they
would find a contractor or an architect that built homes or design similar
homes to what they would want to build. The contractor or architect would tell
the owners what products were available and would guide the owners through the
process. The
building material sales person would be the one that would keep
the contractor informed of the new products on the market. The contractor
controlled where the products came from and what products were used.
With the growing use of the internet this process has
drastically changed. Now with the growing interest in green building it is even
changing more. Home owners are so much more informed about which products they
want to use in their homes. More and more the owner is going to the contractor
with a list of what they want in their home and how they want their home
constructed. The building material sales person now has to find different
products rather than selling the contractor on new products.
The building material supply companies having to compete
with the internet have had to also evolve. Several years ago many supply houses
added small showrooms to display products. Customers would find items on the
internet then they would want to see and touch them before they went into their
home. But these small showrooms would not have every item that is available on the
internet. So the showrooms had to grow and include more products.
The problem with many of these showrooms was the fact that
products would be added to complement another product but was not available
from the select showroom. Appliance showrooms are a prime example of this,
adding cabinet to show off the appliances but not actually selling the
cabinets. There are not many companies that have the full mix of products to be
able to provide this type of showroom. But one company has finally made it happen.
Wolseley is a company from the UK and is the parent company
of Ferguson Enterprise, one of the largest plumbing supply companies and Stock
Building Supply, one of the largest building material companies. Stock Building
Supply and Ferguson have come together to create what is called The Home
Selections Showroom. So far there is only four of these mega showrooms in the
U.S. The Home Selection Showrooms are 20,000 plus square feet of
almost every type of product used in a home. These showrooms have appliances,
cabinets, countertops, plumbing fixtures, doors, windows, hardware, siding,
decking and so much more. This is one showroom that sells every product that is
on display.
Building a new home is one of the biggest investments
someone can make and being informed about the products going into the home is
something everyone should take seriously. With the use of the internet and
finding companies that have good showrooms there is no reason to not be
informed. These resources below are a few of my favorites from when I built my home as well as some recently discovered ones too:
