Within two weeks Dream Doors has seen three new franchised showrooms launch in areas across the UK.
Two out of the three new showrooms opened in coastal areas of Hailsham and Worthing, filling a gap in the South of England that is heavily populated by Dream Doors’ core customer base of over 60s retirees. The Hailsham franchise serves customers from Eastbourne to Brighton, while the Worthing showroom targets customers from Hove through to Chichester. The third new showroom, located between Guildford and Woking in Surrey, is run by South African expats Gary and Hayley Ashe.
Emigrating to the UK in June last year, the couple had found rented accommodation, schools for their two young daughters and embarked on a new business venture within six weeks of landing at Heathrow. Six months later, they and their daughters are settled, and they have a business that has generated £80,000 of sales in the last four weeks.
Mrs Ashe said: “It’s been incredible, but not without its fair share of stress. We’re so busy right now, busier than we’ve ever been, and Gary is really positive as every other appointment is leading to a sale. We couldn’t have done it without all the help from head office, and from all our neighbouring franchise owners. There’s real warmth within Dream Doors, with no competition between franchise owners and genuine support from everyone. And we, probably more than others, have really needed that.”
Seamus and Kate Hackett, who opened their Hailsham-based showroom last month, have found that despite being experienced business owners, including running coffee kiosks in some of London’s busiest underground stations, nothing prepared them for the pace at which their business took off once the showroom opened.
Mr Hackett said: “It’s gone mad in the last few weeks. As soon as people saw the showroom they’ve been flocking in, and we’ve been getting interest in high order value full kitchens, not just facelifts. That’s where we’re going to need some help though, as we’re not full kitchen experts. Well not yet anyway. But that’s what’s great about a franchise, as you certainly aren’t on your own with Dream Doors. The support has been fantastic, exactly what was promised at the beginning. It’s a steep learning curve, but I don’t regret doing this for an instant.”
The third of the new showrooms is operated by ex-store Manager, Mark Wilks. This showroom is located in Worthing, which is just a few miles from Dream Doors head office in Gosport where the brand’s founder and Managing Director Troy Tappenden sold his first kitchen makeover back in 1999. Since then the business has grown to become a network of almost 50 franchise owners.
Tappenden said: “These are the proudest moments for me and I will not stop until there is a Dream Doors franchise in every postcode in the UK. What a great advert for franchising too, as there aren’t many businesses growing these days, and especially in the retail sector.”
Published: 17 February 2012
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