Celebrity interior designer Julia Kendall will be at the opening of the new flagship store from DIY retailer Topps Tiles in Milton Keynes this coming Saturday( June 16th 2012).
Kendall along with store manager Bob Prince and the new store team will be at the deposal of customers visiting on Saturday to give advice and expert tips on how tiles can be best used for their home improvements.
It represents a new generation of store for the retailer, introducing the concept of the ‘Inspiration Centre‘ which will be a designated seating area for customers to receive ongoing support for their redecoration projects.
The new store will also include information points, on floor heating, wetrooms and natural stone to assist shoppers with home improvement.
Other innovations include an online tile visualiser which will give customers the ability to personalise the products on offer by creating their own mood board, explore styles and colours in the range as well as seeing how the tiles would look before having to buy.
At the end of May the DIY retailer reported that its sales were down significantly by 22 per cent, knocking almost £2 million off its half year profits.
Matt Piner, Lead Consultant at retail analyst group, Conlumino sees it as a good move for the DIY retailer, differentiating it from the competition, claiming: “What Topps Tiles aim to be is more upmarket.”
He added: “In the current environment more people are cancelling plans for refurbishment, therefore with Topps Tiles providing both an inspirational and aspirational store experience, they can show the other DIY players what spending more can do.”
