Mitre 10 Bathroom Planner
Spending on kitchens & bathrooms has surged, post-lockdown, but it hasn't "just happened". What else has been driving this reno-boom?
ABOVE: Mitre 10's Jasper kitchen in matt black. "Matt black is our number two seller nationally, behind whites and it's showing absolutely no signs of subsiding."
To view a PDF of the complete feature as it appeared in NZ Hardware Journal magazine, click the download button at the bottom of this page.
Starting with the state of the market – has it really been as much of a boom in kitchens & bathrooms as we've all been hearing?
By way of litmus testing, I sought input from Mitre 10 from the DIY retailers, PlaceMakers among those dealing mainly with the trades and the NKBA as the voice of Kiwi kitchen & bathroom specialists.
While it emphatically hasn't been "business as usual" since the end of March, I was also keen to gauge whether this explosion in demand for kitchens & bathrooms in particular represents the "new normal" or just a "new normal".
DEMAND AND DIY RETAIL
To take the pulse of kitchens & bathrooms from the DIY retail side of the business I turn to Mitre 10's newly appointed General Manager Solutions, Chris Peak.
Chris says that overall, post-lockdown demand across Mitre 10 stores has been "double digit across the network" and that kitchens & bathrooms is "no exception".
"We're seeing huge demand from customers who have created extensive to-do lists during the lockdown and that continues," he says.
"From the demand point of view, I'd say we're exceptionally pleased with the growth that we have seen.
"Pre-Covid we were already experiencing double digit growth and, post-lockdown, we've actually seen demand increase even further beyond that."
Of course it's a given that, in tightening economic cycles, typically, spending on DIY increases dramatically.
Having said this, Chris Peak offers that current demand has been "quite different to what we've seen in other periods of economic turbulence" like the GFC.
"The borders are closed and nobody's travelling. We have also spent very long periods of time in our bubbles and add to that post-lockdown we've also seen increasing numbers of people continuing to work from home, so that's quite a different dynamic than we've experienced previously.
"So all of that has really added to the home environment, which has become a much bigger focus, and consumers have really cracked into improving their interiors, which is reflecting in our sales."
BELOW: Mitre 10's Zircon kitchen in dark blue.
Sales in kitchens & bathrooms are up across the board, both big ticket and small, according to Theresa Humphreys, Mitre 10's Merchandise Manager Showrooms: "At one end of the spectrum you've got a whole lot of people interested in tiny living and making small spaces work much better for them.
"At the other end, you've got a lot of bigger kitchens and bigger designer bathrooms. So we're seeing both ends of that spectrum really take off.
"We have got two ranges across kitchen cabinetry – one is the Impressions, which is our more affordable range, leading into our Designer range.
"And sales for both have essentially exploded – our kitchen consultants are booked for weeks out and the demand on our design team in stores is exponential at present!"
Looking further out, in terms of an outlook, when pushed, Chris Peak, along with most others in the channel, is wisely advising "caution" around what may or may not happen in the next six months.
Still, he will say: "It just feels as though we're in a bit of a bubble at the moment.
"It'll be interesting to see what does actually transpire, especially from a trade perspective."
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DEMAND FOR SPECIALISTS
Turning to the kitchen & bathroom design specialists, on behalf of the New Zealand National Kitchen & Bathroom Association (NKBA), Executive Officer Suzie Rees says her members are also seeing good growth, post-lockdown.
"The designers that we've been speaking to here in Christchurch and in Auckland seem to be really busy.
"There's also all the work that was in the pipeline, pre-lockdown, so people are busy catching up post that.
"At the moment we're certainly seeing growth in the mid- to high-end range and people seem to be really busy."
By way of qualifiying this aspect, although the sky's the limit, cost-wise, as a guide in 2019 the majority of NKBA members were working with budgets of $20-40,000.
Will Suzie Rees share an outlook? "I hope it continues! Hopefully we'll be able to crack on with people not spending budgets going travelling. But certainly the tone and a feel out in the industry seem very buoyant."
What's more, as a group, the specialist members of the NKBA are not only in good spirits and good health but their numbers are also growing, she confirms.
Those undertaking training for example continue to grow, with participation from traditional NKBA design and manufacturing members, as well as the likes of Mitre 10 and some who are new to kitchens & bathrooms and who are retraining, perhaps having lost a different job or even business.
What's more, the recent green light on Government funding ("great to see that Government support!" says Suzie Rees) will be another useful fillip towards further formal upskilling of the people working in the kitchen & bathroom business.
With another record number of entries for 2020, the NKBA's annual awards are another indicator against which to judge the health of specialist kitchen & bathroom design and manufacturing.
Take it as a positive that although Suzie Rees can reveal the NKBA Awards' lower end categories are "a bit thinner on the ground" this year, this is balanced out by entries into the renovation category, which she says is "outstanding".
There's also a strong showing from first-time entrants. "It's really good to be able to see new blood enter the industry," says Suzie.
"When I first came on board in 2012, there was just no young people coming into the industry and, with our 'baby boomers' coming up to retiring age but struggling to slow down, it's just really good to see healthy numbers of students coming through."
"We need depth as well as the breadth of experience and freshness because, let's face it, young ones bring in new knowledge!"
BUSY-AS IN THE TRADE?
Turning to the trade and PlaceMakers, the apparent upsurge in demand for major home renovations is no surprise to Kitchens Category Manager, Liz Aitken.
"Generally, when there's not so many new homes being built, people go into renovations," she says.
What has perhaps raised the odd eyebrow (mine at least!) is that both homeowners and the trade have been driving demand for kitchen & bathroom installed solutions from PlaceMakers.
In fact, Liz puts demand for installed solutions versus "cash & carry" at around 70:30, but again that's no surprise for the blue sheds.
Indeed: "That's a market we've been driving for," says Liz, adding that securing referrals are a key driver of PlaceMakers' installed solutions programme.
In the light of this, I ask "How do you choose your installers?"
"With difficulty," is the response…
What's the temperature of the market – up or down, dollar-wise?
Liz Aitken says by way of reply that the biggest movement she's seeing at the moment is towards solid surface benchtops, Caesar Stone, Prime Stone etc, which shows that "people are wanting a quality item".
Is that move towards high quality price points being reflected in bathrooms?
Yes it is, according to PlaceMakers' Assistant Category Manager, Rebecca Collier-York: "People also want a solid top in their vanities now. We can do custom vanities now so you choose your vanity and benchtop finish and then add a vessel on top.
"I think definitely the trend for the bathroom as well as the kitchen, the look & the feel, are definitely trending more towards the high end."
In terms of that look & feel, Liz Aitken says they've quite specifically chosen to "go down a modern line" with "Very modern clean, sharp lines matt or high gloss."
BELOW: PlaceMakers has chosen to "go down a modern line" with "Very modern clean, sharp lines matt or high gloss" and vanities that are wall-hung.
HOT STYLES – THE SPECIALISTS SPEAK
Staying with styles, having taken a quick look at her 2020 awards entries pre-judging, the NKBA's Suzie Rees says there seems to be a lighter tone coming through, in sum "a little bit less moody" than last year.
Indeed, she says, white seems to be featuring again among NKBA member's clients, along with timber and brass as materials of choice.
From the NKBA's recent member survey of this year's hot colours, finishes and materials, the ideal kitchen will be "a combination of matt white and timber cabinetry, porcelain or engineered stone benchtops with a kitchen island, integrated appliances and tile splashbacks."
Black cabinetry saw a rise in popularity in 2019, but if the NKBA survey results are correct, 2020 will see a return to white or light grey and timber detailing.
A hot colour in terms of new car choices, grey is timeless, works with any colour and with the textures in benchtops, splashbacks and flooring.
All very different from Mitre 10 and PlaceMakers' darker, stronger colour choices for their taste-leading showroom kitchens (of which more below).
A majority of NKBA members stated matt as the finish of choice and that in 2020 kitchen benchtops will be made of engineered stone or a coming material, porcelain/ceramic whose robustness is a real bonus.
Although a seamless bench to splashback look appears to still be top of the pops, NKBA members foresee the return of tiled splashbacks using natural palettes, followed by a marble or "marble look" finish.
In terms of the shape of a kitchen, nothing much has changed in the last few years, according to the NKBA survey.
A kitchen island is most requested, followed by integrated appliances, with sculleries still a favourite inclusion, space permitting.
BELOW: More evidence of PlaceMakers' latest kitchen look & feel.
HOT STYLES – THE RETAILER'S VIEW
While the NKBA, whose members typically design and make one-off or bespoke kitchens & bathrooms, back at Mitre 10, Theresa Humphreys must take a broader view.
Having said this, there's still common ground around what's hot and what's not, and, as you'll see later, it's possible that the perceived gap in the offering between the specialists and retailers or merchants is actually shrinking.
For example, dare I say one's lasting impression of a DIY retailer's kitchen offering is slightly "vanilla" – light, white with a bit of timber.
Not any more – having introduced matt black finishes with timber at Mitre 10's last Homeshow presence, feedback was "unbelievably positive", to the point where the co-op's showroom update nationwide now leads with timber and matt black kitchens "front and centre".
Says Theresa Humphreys: "Matt black is our number two seller nationally, behind whites, and it's showing absolutely no signs of subsiding whatsoever.
"So, we feel we've taken what's traditionally a very designer looking kitchen and made it accessible to the average Kiwi consumer."
Now, about colour… "We are definitely seeing colour coming back. New Zealanders are a little bit more traditionally conservative than, for example, in Europe with colour choices, but what we are seeing is more deep blues and greens emerging, paired with gold tapware."
"Dark inky blues" are the coming colourway, says Theresa, in both kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, and Mitre 10 will be looking to match that with lighting, tapware, handles as well as obviously the cabinetry finishes.
"Metallic, aged coppers textures and cement are still playing quite a strong part in current trends, as are open shelves in kitchens and bathrooms and clean design."
In bathroom, there's also a clear shift in demand floorstanding towards wall hung vanities; "A lot of customers are really embracing that clean look and we see that dynamic continuing, particularly within bathrooms."
In tapware, Mitre 10's number one sellers are chrome, followed by black, gunmetal and then brushed brass.
(See below for how Mitre 10 has been re-presenting its tapware offering as "families" in stores nationwide.)
SPECIALISTS LOOK OUT!
As with Mitre 10, PlaceMakers has spent serious time, effort and money in improving its heating as well as kitchen and bathroom showrooms.
And Gary Woodhouse, PlaceMakers' General Manager Operations & Marketing, says it's been worth it: "For the last three to five years, particularly, we've spent a lot of time and effort and money upgrading a number of our facilities.
"As a result we've been seeing a lot of growth," he says, adding that this growth has not necessarily come from "traditional competitors".
Specifically, he says "We're really comfortable that we are able to compete with specialists a lot better than perhaps we were three years ago."
Liz Aitken agrees that the investment in full in-store showcases has given PlaceMakers extra leverage: "Most of our showrooms now are really beautiful, where customers can see the full offer.
"So I think we do have an advantage over the kitchen or bathroom specialists."
Where to next for the hardware channel and kitchens & bathrooms – could it look to take on other kitchen or bathroom-related specialists?
I say this because, during my digging around, I detected both real satisfaction over the appliance brands currently available to and through the hardware channel as well as more than a little brand envy around what's available to appliance retailers.
Could this mean we might see DIY retailers and merchants, armed with the best-known brands, taking on the appliance channel (a battle which was won in the USA by DIY years ago)?
One response was this: "That's something we're very open to … basically, watch this space."
Mitre 10 takes a "family" approach to new tapware displays
Sometimes you can have just too much choice – look at the average range of light bulbs in a DIY store for example.
And in terms of kitchen & bathroom, Mitre 10 for one is setting about making the consumer's choice easier with new tapware displays that are rolling out nationally.
The new tapware display walls have been designed to merchandise "families" together, separating kitchen mixers from bathroom mixers, with a wide array of colour choices.
Mitre 10's Merchandise Manager Showrooms, Theresa Humphreys, believes this initiative is "really going to inspire our customers" – as well as tempt them upwards in the value chain.
"We went back to basics with our whole tapware range, looked at where consumer demand was leading and also how to make it easier shopping [and] better for customer experience."
https://www.mitre10.co.nz/
Source: http://www.hardwarejournal.co.nz/articles/2020/august/26/kitchen-bathroom-category-2020/
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