Concept and execution both helped earn Franklin Building Supply this year’s ProSales Excellence Award for best showroom. But equally significant was Franklin’s willingness to adapt.
Not Here, Please.“The first plan was to convert a warehouse next to the lumberyard,” Lierz recalls. “We thought about converting a truss plant. We went through all of that and it went hand in hand with the name. I can remember Patti and others saying “we have such power in Franklin Building Supply.'”
At the time, Frasier was managing a small showroom space carved out of Franklin’s main yard, where she often would serve housewives who had braved the dust to pick out cabinets and such. She and two associates were put in charge of figuring out what the next showroom should be. “Those three did a lot of research,” Lierz says. “They drove all over the valley, and they came back and said: “We don’t want it here. It’s too industrial.’ They came to a similar conclusion with the name.
“We started as a lumberyard, and we grew big as a lumberyard,” Lierz adds. “Our customers look at us as a lumberyard. Our biggest marketing asset is all of our trucks running all over town. Even our builders had trouble giving us their cabinet or floor business.” A separate building with a separate name “helps us break that spell,” he says.
Design Innovations is meant to enchant in a different way. Upon entering the building, one immediately sees a Craftsman-style room display with working fireplace and stamped tin ceiling. But it doesn’t take long for you to notice other sets nearby, such as a French country kitchen, an oriental, Zen-like bath spa, and a rustic dining room. Between the sights ahead, the meandering path on the floor below and the sinuous soffits above, it feels natural to take a walk.
There’s method behind the meandering. “A lot of people aren’t great talking about what they’re after,” says Frasier, who worked with boss Erick Wadsworth, Franklin’s general manager of finish operations, to create the rooms. “With our themed design facility, they can pick out details they love and what they don’t like: “I love that tile,’ or “I don’t like that kitchen.’ You’re creating an environment in which they’re comfortable and yet you’re learning a lot.”
Frasier says that when she first envisioned a showroom, she expected it would have a place for children to play while their parents picked out materials. But after visiting operations in Utah, Arizona, and locally, she changed her mind.
“We realized the atmosphere in the facilities without a children’s area seemed a bit more professional. When we talked to designers, they said it was easier to work with customers because they weren’t distracted, didn’t worry about the crying. So we decided to eliminate the children’s area.”
While the major details have remained unchanged since Design Innovations opened in May 2008, tweaking continues. The espresso machine isn’t used nearly as much as Frasier imagined, and table space set aside for clients has been replaced with more samples of floor coverings. In addition, an in-house interior designer was hired on the assumption that customers would welcome the advice. That idea washed out.
