Kitchen & Bath Business September 2021 - 38

ALL ABRO AD
not seen outside of wartime. Suff ering a tragically
high death toll, the country was very quick to sign
big deals for vaccinations and - like the U.S. - has
rolled these out with extraordinary speed. At press
time, both countries seem to be seeing the benefi ts
of this massive eff ort. Hampered only by diffi culties
in supply (both products and labor), the near
total absence of vacationing and hospitality has
left many of the general public with surplus money
to spend, and the home improvement market is
fl ying. Buoyed by the remarkably healthy state of
the industry, having gotten through Brexit reasonably
unscathed and - hopefully - an improving
COVID situation across the world, the country is
once again looking with hope to the future.
You Say Potato,
I Say Potato
A comparison between the
North American and UK/
European K&B industries
SAME INDUSTRY, DIFFERENT APPROACH
Now back to the song. A few years ago, I wrote an
article in the British industry journal Kitchen &
Bathroom News discussing how every industry
has a set of terminology we use with such regularity
that we need to be careful we don't assume our
clients know it too - as problematic and costly
misinterpretations can result. Sharing the same
language, one would assume that the British and
North American K&B sectors would have a common
set of vernacular, methods and principles, so
we wouldn't have this issue. Th ink again: potato,
potato; tomato, tomato - there are many diff erences
between the two markets.
In the U.K., it's described as kitchen and bathroom.
We also have added fitted bedrooms to
DO YOU KNOW THE SONG " Let's Call the Whole Th ing Off " sung by Fred
Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1937 classic movie " Shall We Dance? " You
know the one: " You say either, I say either...you like potato, I like potato. "
A happy little duet with the dating couple getting frustrated by each other's
diff erent ways of saying the same things. With that lovely tune and lyrics
humming through your head, you might though be asking yourself " What
has this got to do with the kitchen and bath industry!?! " A good question we
will come back to later.
CHALLENGING TIMES REPLACED WITH A BRIGHTER FUTURE
I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the kitchen and
bath industries in North America and the U.K./Europe, where we will look
at some of our own unique approaches, idiosyncrasies and viewpoints, as well
as what similarities and connections we have.
With a career spanning 18 years in the industry as a designer, manager,
director and co-owner of several kitchen and bath businesses, I can safely
say that the last few have been the most challenging. Only a few years of
calm after the " credit crunch, " the Brexit vote happened here, and it sent the
country into a tailspin of division, recrimination, legal argument and incredible
uncertainty. As Europe's second-largest economy, a major international
presence and the continent's only English-speaking country, this was a major
shock for the EU, too. As so many major K&B brands are imported from
the continent, not knowing how this would aff ect U.K. trade deals was a big
concern we could have done without.
Th en COVID-19 struck. Suddenly dwarfi ng the concerns about Brexit,
we all threw away the handbook and took various extraordinary measures
38
ABOVE Homeowners in the
U.K. prefer shower spaces
over tubs in the bath.
Photo by Michael/
Adobe Stock
the title (despite it only being a tiny proportion
of the turnover), making the industry known as
kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms (KBB). Th at's
just the beginning: faucet vs. tap, trash vs. rubbish,
restroom vs. loo being just a few examples.
Systems of measurement is another key difBy
TOBY GRIFFIN, a
UK-based K&B industry
consultant
ference. Despite still using the imperial measurements
of miles to talk about journeys and feet/
inches when comparing a person's height, the
U.K.'s K&B industry has entirely adopted the
metric system because of a natural homogenization
with Europe, I assume. So where you in
America have Fahrenheit, we have Celsius; for
gallons we have litres; for pounds we have kilograms;
for inches we have millimeters. Th is homogenization
continues, especially with reference
to kitchen design, products and standardization.
Custom or bespoke kitchens are very rare here.
Being fans of built-in and hidden appliances (with
the possible exception of large range cookers and
the occasional side-by-side fridge/freezer), the
synchronization between appliance sizes and
furniture is paramount both in the U.K. and in
Europe. Th e measurement of 600mm rules the
kitchen design process, with built-in ovens, microwaves,
dishwashers, fridge/freezers and laundry
/ SEPTEMBER 2021 / KBBONLINE.COM / Th e offi cial publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.NKBA.org http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business September 2021