Blog Archives




 

  • KBIS and IBS to Join Forces in 2014
    By Janice Costa - Tuesday January 22, 2013
    It's been a tough few years, and everyone from kitchen dealers and designers to manufacturers have been feeling the pinch. So, is it any wonder that trade show attendance has struggled along with the rest of us these past few years? When budgets are tight, there's a tendency to look at other, more affordable options -- online networking instead of live events, webinars instead of live seminars, web-based product reviews instead of venues with live product displays. Technology gives us options and alternatives that weren't available just a few short years ago, and these can be a blessing when budgets are tight. Yet even the most technologically connected among us know that there's nothing quite like being there. Seeing, touching...

  • Growing Mature Consumer Base Favors Comfort & Style
    By Janice Costa - Wednesday October 24, 2012
    “Mature” buyers used to be viewed by much of the industry as something of an afterthought. These consumers weren’t seen as investing in major kitchen and bath remodels in great numbers – certainly not the way the baby boomers did, with their growing families, growing incomes and desire to keep up with (or surpass) the Jones. Nor were they viewed as offering the same opportunity as young consumers, who, despite limited disposable income, tended toward more creative designs and lots of technology, with the added bonus of potentially being customers for many decades to come. But with the aging of America, that’s all changing. Older consumers are remodeling in higher numbers than in years past – surpassing other age demographics...

  • Luxury, Storage, Ease of Use Top Baby Boomers' Design Wish List
    By Janice Costa - Tuesday September 25, 2012
    If your clientele is made up primarily of baby boomers, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that, as a group, these consumers tend to have money to spend on their homes, and many are looking to upgrade, having had their fill of “waiting ‘til things get better.” Baby boomers also tend to favor luxury: While “trophy” spaces may have fallen out of favor, these clients are still more than willing to invest in luxury features and amenities if they believe they will enhance their quality of life.   The bad news is that baby boomers tend to demand a greater attention to detail, and often have higher expectations for service than either older or younger buyers. That means you can expect to spend more time closing the...

  • The Evolving Tastes of Younger Homeowners
    By Janice Costa - Monday September 10, 2012
    While it’s commonly assumed that that younger consumers love complicated technology and anything trendy, that’s not necessarily true when it comes to kitchen and bath design choices. In fact, while younger consumers may love their technology and idolize Tim Gunn, that doesn’t mean they’re willing to sacrifice practicality, or durability, in order to achieve their high-tech, fashion-forward vision. Generations X and Y may have modern-day sensibilities, but these are still consumers raised by practically minded parents – and those parents would likely be proud of the way those values “took.” So it should come as no surprise that when kitchen and bath designers were recently surveyed about what they saw these generations...

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