Goodness – we are into December already! We hardly seem to have taken breath this autumn, what with the South West and AIS shows, MOW in Germany and lots of planning and forecasting meetings as we get ready for 2015. All this going on and I choose to have an extension built onto the kitchen at home at the same time. Anyone who’s done that will know what I mean!
We’ve worked very hard this year and I’m delighted to report that we have seen an encouraging increase in our turnover with independents in what is, by all accounts, still a very tough market. I’m hoping that means all our efforts to make our customers’ life easier are reaping some rewards. I know we don’t get it right all the time but we are trying!
We are now of course, preparing for and looking forward to the new January Furniture Show at the NEC. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out won’t it? Three days instead of four (and no Sunday!); and a different hall and dynamic in terms of location and visitor flow. Plus, as this year Cologne happens after the NEC, we can spend a bit more time over there as well. We can but wait and see, but be assured, the Wiemann stand – Hall 3 stand G80 – is going to be better than ever.
We’re very excited to be revealing a total of eight new ranges this year. As always, we listen carefully to our customers’ feedback and there is less emphasis on promotional models for the first time in a while, which is good news. It means more innovation, more style, more flexibility, more options.
Skarlett is a great new VIP model, sophisticated in white and Havanna glass finish, dramatic in black and magnolia glass. Tokyo is a fantastic range of chests in all the VIP finishes, which vastly extends the possibilities of these collections. And talking of VIP ranges, we’re delighted to say a walk-in corner robe to add to our best-selling Loft range is also in the pipeline and will be displayed at the show to gauge interest.
White oak and Bianca beech are two lovely new light finishes – you can see them on new models Madrid and Dallas respectively. And there are some other treats in store, such as Westside, a sliding door range where the doors open from the middle; and Asti, which has a rather clever features of internal drawers being accessible through closed sliding doors (you have to see this one to get it so we’ve put in a picture!)
All of these new ranges are going into production which means they should be available for delivery soon after the show.
Coming up before Christmas, we’re getting together with the UK sales team to go through our strategy for 2015. Our theme – less is more (that is, we’ll be looking to work more closely with good, active accounts, supporting as well as we can those that support us!).
To you all – season’s greetings and may the New Year bring us all a good dose of health, happiness and prosperity.
