Page 28 - HW 0822

kitchens & bathrooms
The ace of bases
Slated for release in December (not September as previously noted in these pages!) Athena’s new SlateForma one-piece shower tray, as the name suggests, is a slim profile, non-slip, textured design taken from a natural slate mould with a gel coat finish over resin composite for a high quality and easy-clean finish.
Available in Chalk (white), Stone (light grey) and Anthracite (dark grey), and in five sizes (1000x1000, 1200x900, 1200x1000, 1400x1000, and 1600x1000mm), SlateForma is compatible with all Athena shower door sets, comes with 30mm factory-fitted upstands, and is installed by laying into a bed of tile adhesive.
https://athena.co.nz/
kitchens – cabinetry that goes to the ceiling, higher spec hardware and more expensive finishes like stone benchtops or engineered stone.
In terms of trends, what’s Mitre 10’s pick for the next 12 months? Black woodgrain, blues and greens, says Liz.
Mitre 10 is also putting work into developing how it shows off its wares when kitchen customers do come in-store.
Liz Aitken says they are busy working other store categories into kitchen displays, in MEGAs as well as in Mitre 10s that do well in kitchens, towards a more cross-category sell.
“We’re only just starting that process now, but it includes homewares, lighting, plants timber shelving and accessories, etc.” It’s a “blended environment to inspire the customer or to make
them feel like they’ve come to the right place having done their research,” says Liz.
Mitre 10’s style picks: both bold and natural; broader interior outlook coming soon.
Mitre 10 also wants to extend its trade offering into kitchens, picking up renovations through builders.
“It’s a market that we perceive that we can do really well in,” says Liz Aitken.
“We’re touching on that now, but we want to grow – we want to cover DIY and we want to cover Do It For Me.”
By the sound of it, this is part of a wider program addressing how Mitre 10 faces the trade?
“Yes,” is the short answer. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
PLACEMAKERS WANTS MORE OF HOUSE
PlaceMakers too is working towards a more holistic approach, having been busy creating spaces in bigger stores that are more interiors showrooms than kitchen showrooms per se.
Talking from Dunedin where she was supervising the final touches to the brand new PlaceMakers Carisbrook, Category Manager Rebecca Collier-York says this new showroom approach is already in place in a couple of Auckland stores.
“With the bigger format stores, we can really showcase what we do in the interior space, encompassing everything from kitchens, sculleries, laundry, wardrobes, heating, bathrooms, and flooring.
“We are trying to make it a one-stop shop for our customers,” she explains.
PlaceMakers is also taking this whole-of-house or more-of- house approach with its new 3D Design Planner which enables customers to design a bathroom, or a kitchen and, in the next couple of months, laundries and sculleries, as well as possibly
26 NZHJ | AUGUST 2022
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz