Upmarket home and garden furniture specialist Bridgman turned 45 this year. Since pioneering premium rattan and waterproof cushions in the UK, the family-run business is now a confident player in the living and dining segment, and recently opened two new showrooms, in Tunbridge Wells and Cheltenham – incorporating concessions for its sister brand, sofa-in-a-box brand, Snug – taking its store portfolio to seven. Here, Bridgman’s commercial director, Alex Bridgman – with input from regional showroom manager Amanda Chauhan Shaw – explains the rationale behind the new outlets …
Why open these stores, in these locations? How do they fit into your wider strategy?
Having already previously opened a Kent Showroom several years ago, Royal Tunbridge Wells was the perfect place to reopen for our already established customer base in the area, as well as new customers. To celebrate our return to the area, we held a special grand opening event, hosted by local resident and Bridgman customer Gloria Hunniford. Locals were invited to come down on opening day to enjoy a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a glass of bubbly and a first look at our new space.
The opening of the Cheltenham showroom also reflects our desire to make shopping at Bridgman more accessible, and was chosen due to the demographic of the area closely matching our target customer.
How did you ensure they remained on brand?
As with our other five stores, these two new showrooms utilised the same brand colour scheme to ensure complete consistency across all Bridgman shopping channels. Our showroom designer also used clever zoning techniques for product displays to show customers how our furniture could fit into their home and garden.
Though each showroom is unified by a strong, consistent sense of our brand identity, we also ensured that each space is unique, to differentiate the stores from one another.
How are you marketing them and driving footfall?
We’ve used a combination of successful targeted leaflet door drops using Acorn to residents in and around the area, and social media adverts, based on postcode and interest, directing people to visit the showroom webpages. We’ve also made great use of our organic social media channels by promoting the store openings to our loyal customer following.
What do you like about the locations?
Both our Royal Tunbridge Wells and Cheltenham showrooms are situated in areas of the respective towns with a historic specialisation in interiors. This is something we really appreciate, as a three-generation family business of furnituremakers.
The sites are also easily accessible for our customers, with convenient parking and wheelchair accessibility.
Inside the Cheltenham showroom
Which architectural and design partners did you work with, and how did they influence the outcome?
The new showrooms were designed by our internal design team, allowing us full control over the full design and fitting process. Both spaces have been decorated with a consideration for the natural features of each building, with features such as exposed brick interior walls, as well as taking inspiration from the local area to ensure cohesion between our brand and the surrounding area and its history.
Was any significant physical redevelopment involved?
The Cheltenham showroom underwent the most significant work as we had to adapt the space from a fashion store, removing changing rooms and window partitions to create an open space, filled with natural light.
What products are on show, and why were they selected?
We selected furniture and sets by analysing our most popular products based on in-store and online sales. These two large showroom spaces have allowed us to include a wide variety of both our garden furniture and our indoor dining and lounging sets. As in all of our showrooms, each space also has a section dedicated to seasonal pieces from our sister brand, Snug – the sofa-in-a-box company, founded in 2018.
How would you describe the in-store atmosphere? How it was achieved?
Both showroom spaces are open plan and flooded with natural light and neutral tones. This creates a calming ambience that isn’t overcrowded, pushing the space’s focus to the quality of the products and allowing customers to visualise how the furniture could enhance their home or garden.
How often will the contents/look be overhauled?
We are constantly looking at ways to adapt our showrooms based on customer feedback, whether this is small tweaks to accessories or introducing new sets and collections to each space. Two key overhauls also occur seasonally based on the outdoor and indoor seasons. We also try our best to have furniture in the showrooms should a customer request to see it.
How many people work at each showroom, and who manages them?
Our Cheltenham showroom is managed by Travis, and Royal Tunbridge Wells by Lucas. Having one showroom-based manager allows our team to create really strong, personal relationships with our customers, achieving the five-star service that Bridgman is renowned for.
Are there any other developments we should know about?
This summer, we launched our first-ever television advert, once again using a mixture of creative marketing and data-led strategy to reach new customers. This year also marks Bridgman’s 45th anniversary, and we have even more exciting projects and events planned for the rest of the year.
