The Kitchenware Tourist: Cook's Nook

Do you visit other kitchenware stores when you are travelling? We do! And we take along a notebook and our trusty digital camera to take photos of cool stores, interesting products and other great ideas. So from time to time, the Kitchenware Tourist will be sharing these visits with you.

Can you say ASSORTMENT?  We recently visited The Cook’s Nook in Norwalk, Connecticut and were totally WOWed by their assortment of products.  The store has an extensive mix of vendors with numerous brands and multiple lines within the brand in a number of price points. Check out the store photos:

Displays we love: Let there be light!

Check out these displays from kitchenware stores we've visited recently.  They are well lit and do a wonderful job of showcasing the product--either with spot- or back- or sidelights and even a lovely lamp on a display. Some good take away ideas here

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Can’t get enough of new kitchen products?

Tune into the Food Channel on Monday, May 14^th (9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central Time) for the premier of Invention Seekers, a new show that features the next million-dollar food invention waiting to be discovered.  On each program, hosts Patrick Raymond and Steve Greenberg, showcase three kitchen gadget prototypes which are pitched to a manufacturer.  The winning product will be brought to market. Here are a few of the items that will be presented in the first episodes: Sippin' Snacker, a cup that holds both food and drink; Produce Freshies, which claims to keep fruits and veggies fresh for days longer;  Drinking Duck, a silicone cover for dirty soda cans; Mary's Marinating Stick which injects seasoning into meat and a Vibrating Blender  that makes  extra-thick smoothies. 

Displays we love: colorful ceramics

You had us at melted butter.  Wonderful colorful seafood themed display in Michigan features fabulous serveware.

Marketing ideas: get involved in your local Farmer's Market

Ralph’s Joy of Living sponsors the weekly Farmer’s Market in downtown Fremont, Ohio.  Like most Farmer’s Markets, the Fremont market showcases homemade and fresh products from local growers who live in and around the area, but it also features a number of special events throughout the season including a car show, music festival, and a scarecrow decorating contest.  What a great way to tie your store into the foodies and locavores in your marketplace.  Fabulous idea, Ralphs!

Trends: Kids in the kitchen

Getting kids involved in cooking with kitchenware targeted to children has become a profitable sales trend. Teaching kids to cook is fun, teaches them about nutrition and offers practical lessons in subjects such as fractions and measurements.  In this store a toy stove invites pint sized chefs to participate.  

Ralph’s Joy of Living in Tiffin, Ohio just started offering children’s products and because they have been such a big seller, they are planning to expand their offerings to further growth in this category. Here's an end cap with some of their best selling products:

The Kitchenware Tourist Visits Ralph's Joy of Living

Do you visit other kitchenware stores when you are travelling? We do! And we take along a notebook and our trusty digital camera to take photos of cool stores, interesting products and other great ideas. So from time to time, the Kitchenware Tourist will be sharing these visits with you.

When we visited the spacious, inviting store, Ralph’s Joy of Living in Tiffin, Ohio, we were greeted by large photos of the kitchenware store’s helpful staff on the front of the store…this is Kim, the “wine guy”.

Ralph’s started as an appliance store in the 50s, and more recently added kitchen design and most recently kitchenware and wine—literally offering one-stop shopping for all their customer’s kitchen needs. Designer kitchens enhance the store’s environment

They sell single cup coffee makers and offer a large selection of K-cups to keep customers coming back into the store

Soda Stream sales are through the roof especially since they accept cartridge returns

Displays we love: displaying gadgets

You know how much we love a good gadget wall.  But we’ve found some other creative displays that kitchenware stores feature gadgetry in their stores.  Here are just a few: 

Are you on Pinterest?

According to an article in today’s Salon Magazine, the social community image-sharing site, Pinterest, has become the hot new social media tool. And the images-driven is perfect for showcasing great new products from your kitchenware store and website.  Its users are ready to buy--so “pin” kitchenware products that link back to your retail site to show pinners where items can be purchased. Visit Pinterest here

Displays we love: great gadget walls

Like most customers, we are drawn to gadgets.  And when we see displays and walls of great gadgets in an independent kitchenware store, we know that the store is showcasing one of the best attributes of the specialty store--the assortment.  

Here are a few that we’ve seen lately from stores around the country:

Trends from over the pond

Down the hill from Windsor Castle outside of London lies a picturesque shopping area….this sounds a bit like a fairy tale, doesn’t it?  

To see how what was trending in the UK, we visited Kitchen Kapers in Windsor to see what was happening in a kitchenware store in one of the Royals favorite towns.  

Located on a quaint cobblestone street in the middle of the shopping district, the store looked much like an independent store in the states.  A step inside revealed few differences.

Kitchen Kapers was a wonderful store and unlike many traditional tourist meccas chockablock full of ceramic teapots with portraits of the queen, there was a collection of bright and colorful contemporary teapots and mugs--and a colorful mill display that  caught our eye--as did the attractive display of Joseph Joseph products, a UK based design and manufacturer of contemporary kitchenware. Gadget walls are popular in the UK as well.

Joseph Joseph

Gadget wall

Marketing ideas: Integrate your marketing

We often say that there is not one “magic bullet” in marketing—printed catalogs and flyers can be used with digital media to generate inquiries and online sales—in an integrated approach to multiply the impact of both.  In fact, digital marketing can prolong the effectiveness of print—resulting in 20% of your customers  looking at the catalog or flyer when they receive an email or see it online.  Checkout the online catalog on Your Kitchen Store’s website, where the easy-to-use page turner catalog continues to drive business into the Keene, New Hampshire store. 

And while you are there, check out their wonderful video for a tour of their new store location.  Fabulous.