While at the Woodworking Tool Expo in Howe, IN last week I met with several different woodworking shops. Most of the conversations were about the up and downs in the market. One shop’s unique display method caught my ear.

The cabinet shop was having a problem with people’s inability to build a mental picture of the kitchen from the drawings. Recent upgrades to 3-D rendering helped, but many homeowners were still wrestling with picturing the spacing and dimensions.

This innovative shop came up with a new moveable showroom.

The showroom cabinets are all on wheels with locking casters. Each cabinet, kitchen island and even the wall can be shifted. The floor of the showroom is laid out in grids and as the client starts to ask about spacing between the refrigerator and the kitchen island, or where the dishwasher will be, the showroom moves to adapt to their concerns.

Now when the homeowner is confused on the dimensions and spacing, the shop moves the cabinets, islands and even walls to create their kitchen.

The movable showroom helps customers understand how much room they really have and may even help sell bigger kitchens. From the discussion I heard the biggest benefit was increasing their closing ratio by 42%.

Good Hunting!