The Word is out - Kohler to Open Retail Stores

In November 2005, Kohler hosted the grand opening of The Kohler Store in the Chicago Merchandise Mart’s LuxeHome boutique area. This may be its first of many retail stores nationwide.

The manufacturer will open two other stores in the city’s suburbs next year. With lessons learned from these three retail outlets, the company plans to rely on its traditional plumbing distributors to operate other Kohler Stores throughout the country. How will this effect Kohler distributor showrooms and Kohler Premier Showrooms? Only time will tell.

The industry news leader Supply House Times reported on this in December 2005 with very accurate information. How many distributors has Kohler “relied” on to “operate other Kohler Stores throughout the county? Many Kohler distributors and dealers have struggled over the last 20 years as Kohler has pushed them to have their own showrooms. Many have spent millions of dollars trying to keep them up to date and market them. Most have also struggled to make a profit on their showrooms, and meeting Kohler’s demands of products to be displayed.

The stores have continued to open. To date there are three in the Chicago area. There was one discussed for the Portland area, any news on it. Have an opinion on this, leave a comment.