Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM APRIL 2017 58 O ver the past few months, there have been many store improvements at Stubbe's BrandSource Home Furnish- ings. First came the addition of the new Sleep Center in August, and now the appliance showroom has been doubled in space to offer customers more selection and more savings. Stubbe's now boasts a new 3,050 sq. ft. Appliance Center to offer customers more choices to improve their overall shopping experience. Customers are greeted by expert consultants who have the capability to demonstrate the most advanced technologies available. In fact, most of the appliances on the floor are fully functional in order to illustrate how new innovations create energy efficiency, saving them time and money. The grand opening ceremony was November 16th to 19th and the ribbon cutting, which was streamed live to Facebook by Mr. Isaac Stubbe, founder of the business, took place on Friday, the 18th. This was followed by a heart-felt thank you speech by General Manager Gerrard Stubbe and some well-wishing words from Don Burnett, director of BrandSource Home Furnishings. Over the course of the three-day grand opening, more than 380 customers visited the store. Two KitchenAid stand mixers, two KitchenAid juicers, and a $1,000 KitchenAid small appliance package were given away to five lucky winners. Stubbe's BrandSource Home Furnishings is a pilot store for the new BrandSource 'Appliance Store within a Store' concept. The Mega/BrandSource appliance merchandising team created partnerships with suppliers such as Whirlpool/Maytag/Kitchen- Aid, GE, Samsung, Fisher & Paykel, Zephyr, Miele, and Danby, bringing this project to a new level. The Appliance Center now boasts a well-balanced array of categories and suppliers positioned in a key location of the store, with a design that is intended to bring appliance shopping to another level for customers. When BrandSource approached the Stubbes about a year ago to be the pilot store, the management thought that the timing was ideal, as the appliance department needed to be updated and more relevant to the ever-changing consumer. "It was a great opportunity to invest in the community to ensure past, present and future customers continue to shop locally. We feel having greater choices, leading brands, and personal service is paramount to our customers. We wanted to become the appliance specialist and expert in our market so that our customers felt confident in our abilities to help focus on their needs while giving them the best value," said Gerrard Stubbe. Stubbe mentioned that based on market analysis, there is opportunity in the market to sell more premium products and larger appliance packages by attracting more customers renovating or building new homes. With the new appliance center, they now have almost unlimited choices to satisfy the needs and requirements of all customers. Shoppers can now browse the expanded showroom and visit their website at www.stubbesbrandsource.ca for even more selections. The goal of the BrandSource 'Appliance Store within a Store' concept is to show consumers that they are dealing with experts in the appliance category. This is achieved with a central location of the appliance department within the store accompanied by strong visual elements. The department is divided into three clear categories (cooking, refrigeration, and laundry,) which are supported by strong accent colors and lifestyle wall graphics. It is designed to demonstrate the latest in appliance technology with innovation pods at the front of the department, strategically located small vignettes to display appliances in "real life" settings, plus a large touch-screen kiosk for additional product information available to both customers and staff. During the selling process, extensively trained sales consultants qualify the clients' needs, narrow the options and ultimately help consumers make the best buying decision tailored to their needs and budget. BRANDSOURCE'S APPLIANCE STORE WITHIN A STORE B U Y I N G G R O U P N E W S RO

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