Veneta Cucine - Italian Modular Kitchens

This is a long due post. Veneta Cucine was one of the first modular kitchens I visited with an intention for exploration and possible purchase. When I had just started exploring modular kitchens, I  remember being  aware of Veneta Cucine and possibly 1 or 2 more. I assume that is because of their marketing efforts and top of the mind recall.

Courtesy: Veneta Cucine

The initial visit and follow-up was good. Although I had walked in without an appointment, I was guided around by an able sales manager . Of all the modular kitchens I have visited , I must say that  I liked her personality and attitude the best. She had this overall vibe of genuine interest without overselling or being snooty like few others; which is a pity because we did not make the final buy and also we came across one serious negative feedback on Mouthshut.com. Recently I also came across few others, which would obviously be worrying to any customer looking to purchase. Thankfully there is some semblance of response from Veneta Cucine on some of these reviews. However, these responses should have been there on the site well before and for all the feedback against genuine purchases.

While the whole world and its businesses are going digital it is ironic to see several brands being

Courtesy: Veneta Cucine

unable to use digital well. Just setting up a Twitter handle or a Facebook page doesn’t cut it. Do you actively manage it? And by that I don’t mean posting pretty pictures and garnering likes from your own team. It means being able to respond to new customers for their queries and helping older customers with their feedback and issues. Not responding and ignoring a customer would scare off other potentials and being defensive in your response would not really help. If I feel that you as a brand and a vendor will not support me during my time of need then I am really better off without hiring you by making a purchase. As far as modular kitchens are concerned this is a space where a lot of improvement needs to be made. But it’s heartening to see the new startups like Capricoast, HomeLane figure out customer acquisition and handling the digital space a bit better than their older counterparts. I was also pleased to see Espiq Kuchen reaching out to an aggrieved customer on my blog.

Anyhow I digress. The sales manager showed us the different models, shutter finishes and explained

Courtesy: Veneta Cucine

how some design elements could help us. Of all the Italian kitchens that I have viewed, Veneta Cucine probably has a larger variety of colors available and that is attractive to many Indian customers. I remember seeing an edgy design in lavender, a nice one in lime green and one shade which looked like a mix of ochre yellow and orange. Unlike the German or Northern European brands which tend to restrict themselves mostly to white and wooden finishes, the range of colors available among Italian brands is usually higher. So if this is of considerable importance to you, you might want to restrict your search to them. As far as material is concerned, the usual laminate ( and mono-faced lacquer), PVC  high gloss , lacquer & veneer, tempered lacquered glass and solid wood options are available in increasing order of price.

One of the constraints of ordering with Veneta Cucine is that you need to purchase the kitchen appliances ( hob, oven, chimney hood, sink and faucet) from their in-house brand VC Plus. They do work with other brands Foster , Smeg, Falmec, Electrolux, Siemens, Whirlpool but it is possible that the price of VC Plus will be lower than all of these brands. Whirlpool could be lower actually. Their Indian website lists prices of appliances which is a dream because I do not need to visit their store, call up or email to inquire prices. Wish other brands would be smart enough to do that. The sink and faucet cannot be purchased from external brands. What I do not recall is whether customers can purchase appliance brands outside the list of names mentioned above.

Courtesy: Veneta Cucine

 Veneta Cucine charges an upfront price of 10,000/- for a quotation with design. This is absorbed/refunded ( please check ) in the final price if you purchase your kitchen from them. This is the norm with several modular kitchen brands. If you are checking out few brands, you obviously cannot be spending 10k at every store. Hence, the workaround would be to take a print-out of your floor plan, ask for average/starting prices of cabinets ( base, wall, tall/midi units) and few other stuff that you will definitely need, when you are getting the sales pitch/tour. Also ask them to look at your floor plan and give you a rough estimate and then add the cost of appliances (usually around 1.5L, countertop (30-40k) and any accessories). For us the initial quote was highest among others and as a result we never went back for a detailed quote. However, there is always a possibility to ask the designer to match your budget.

People generally tend to post their feedback usually in extreme of circumstances and more when they have had a negative experience and in rare occasions, when they have had a positive experience beyond expectation. What we do not know is the percentage of these failings. If you knew that Vendor 1 performed miserably 10 times for 100 sales and Vendor 2 performed badly once for 10 overall transactions, whom would you choose? There is no easy answer unfortunately.

Location in Bangalore

Veneta Cucine is located in Indiranagar and Jayanagar. Check out the exact location here.

Email:

support@ccindia.net

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Italian modular kitchens from Scavolini

Courtesy: Scavolini

In my search for other stuff related to house interiors, I usually chance upon different stores who also take care of modular kitchens. A lot of these stores have come up ( or have been advertised or known to me ) slightly after the long search for a modular kitchen brand ended. While it is a shame that I wasn't able to look at all of these before, it could also be a blessing in disguise. Too much of choice confuses most humans (including myself) and I doubt I would have been able to take a good decision. Also dear partner would have finally protested at the "torture" of accompanying me everywhere and trying to smile through everything. One such brand was Scavolini. I remember searching for it initially, ending up at another store on Inner Ring Road and finally giving up.

In Bangalore, Sai Gallerium is the dealer for Scavolini kitchens. Sai is already well known for their collection of imported tiles and accessories. They store numerous other brands and we managed to have look at a Versace dining table along with huge mirror and decor elements full of bling along with it. Since the Facebook page for Scavolini by Sai has started posting from Jan 2015 I assume they have been set up some time before it.

We managed to have a cursory look at the kitchens and I liked the one with a mossy green

Courtesy: Scavolini

lacquer wall cabinets and dark wood base cabinets. And as in all Italian kitchens, there are numerous colours like orange, pink, purple and others available. However what I was really floored by was the Caesarstone countertop one of the kitchens. Unfortunately these are pricier than the usual granite and Corian countertops but are less porous and hence vulnerable to stains, visible seams than a granite countertops. Caesarstone is not 100% natural like a granite in case that matters for you. In India, Hafele is the official partner for Caesarstone brand but a lot of modular kitchen brands, including Scavolini also offer this as an option for the countertop.

My learnings from the European Kitchen Design blog made me think that Scavolini would be on the pricier side and I still don't have solid data to confirm or reject that. However, I got to know that a very basic kitchen starts at 2.5L but it would be best to visit Sai Gallerium, have a look and discuss with the designers if possible.

Sai Gallerium is present at 100 Feet Road Indirangar, Banashankari and Banaswadi. You can look up their addresses and contact numbers at their Contact page.

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Gilma Spagnolia - Now at Discount!

Courtesy: Gilma Modular Kitchens

I visited the Gilma Spagnolia modular kitchen showroom at Indiranagar the second time. A big difference since the last time I visited it. Unlike before, they have an adept sales person who is not overtly pushy but helpful enough; a far cry from the lady I met previously. But less about the lady and her faux pas and more about the kitchens.

There are few kitchens on display with different finishes and configurations. The showroom is smaller than other brands and hence the number of kitchens on display is also lower. The positive effect of this is lesser confusion. I remember getting very confused at the Veneta Cucine and Nolte showrooms when I visited them. GilmaSpagnolia sells Italian kitchens (Spagnolia is their Italian brand) and Indian kitchens. The Indian kitchens are locally manufactured in India while the Italian kitchens are imported totally. Prices of Indian kitchens are obviously lower. I think starting price for a 10 X 8 kitchen was quoted at `3 Lakh for an Indian kitchen and `4.5 Lakh for an Italian kitchen. 

However, if you want lot of variety and colors, then the Italian kitchens are a better bet.

Courtesy: Gilma Modular Kitchens

There are a wide variety of finishes like glossy lacquer, membrane (includes a PVC foil over the MDF without edge banding), glass and wood. The doors have soft closing and better finishes.Very typically, the kitchen with a wood finish is designed in a typical country style and similar chimneys. I can’t remember the exact pricing but it is probably around `8 Lakh without appliances. While I loved most of the Italian kitchens on display, the bigger kitchens caught my fancy. One of them was a black glossy lacquer with a curved island, white glossy lacquer with a huge island and a dark wooden laminate one.

For people interested in buying a kitchen soon, the renovation of the GilmaSpagnolia showroom would be an interesting opportunity. The kitchens on display would be available at a considerable discount. In fact quite a few modular kitchen brands sell their kitchens on display at a discount. I am aware of Hacker and Nolte and now Gilma is a revelation. Of course, this will work for you only if the measurements of your kitchen space are comparable and the cabinets can be mapped into your kitchen layout.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and in case of modular kitchens, it depends on the product and the service (design efforts, installation and after sales). While the designs and colors of the kitchens are attractive, I wasn’t very impressed with the shelving material in few of the kitchens (laminate and membrane). One can get an idea of the service from checking out  Mouthshut.com or inquiring with their past customers. The latter is preferred because most of us do not take the time to write a glowing review if satisfied. However this particular review on Mouthshut is probably enough to scare one away.

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Italian Modular Kitchens from Cucine Lube in Bangalore

Courtesy of Cucine Lube India

I had actually planned to visit the Veneta Cucine showroom that afternoon. Unfortunately I wrongly assumed that all shops are open on a Sunday. I walked up to the showroom to confirm that it was really closed and not appearing so due to less employees and dim lighting. Unfortunately it was really closed. Damn! Considering I dragged my behind out of the house for this trip, I was now determined to see at least one shop related to kitchen design. I looked around and realized that there was one such shop very nearby which seemed open and was conveniently located right above one of my favorite restaurants.

With my skeptical partner by my side I huffed and puffed my way up the showroom. Aha! The results of recession or possibly slow business. The showroom seemed open but had only 1 employee , less lighting and no air conditioning. The lady looked at us from the office or office space and prayed that we would go away. Unfortunately I was in my " will explore and look around" mood. Hence I smiled innocently and eagerly  and announced "We are interested in a modular kitchen". The lady realized she had to get up and endure our presence for some time. I still don't remember why she was so apparently reluctant to show us around . Possibly she was resigning, possibly the variable component in her salary was low , possibly she refused to "work" on a Sunday or most probably she judged our appearance found it ridiculous that we would even consider to buy! My bets are on the last one.

So we , rather I , dragged her along to each and every kitchen set that was present there. 
There are about 15 modular kitchens present ( approximately ). Most of the designs were based on a modern look which looked good with lacquer than the veneer options. Of course some models with veneer were good as well. The ones using glass are really nice and if your budget permits, I would actually steer you to that direction. Unfortunately you will not be able to use the beautifully designed chimneys for Indian cooking. There are some semi-spherical, cylindrical designs which add a whole new dimension to your kitchen design but are woefully low on suction design.


Courtesy of Cucine Lube India

For those who prefer a nice old-fashioned but classic design, there were 2 in wood (one of them was possibly cherry? ) with huge pyramid shaped  chimneys coming down over the counter-top. Wooden kitchens also have the advantage that they can be painted in different colors . I don't think the lacquer, veneer and glass offer that option. I was longing to see a yellow kitchen but was unhappy not to find one. The colors mostly ranged from reds, blacks, a nice lavender, mint, other green, magenta, black and wood of course.

It's very difficult to talk about pricing to any sales person for modular kitchen. But the good ones till now usually give you a correct base price . In fact sometimes I feel you can determine how good and knowledgeable a sales person is based on the way they can help you figure out basic pricing. Till date almost each and every sales person I meet ,drones on  how they can tell us the pricing only when we sit to design, choose the modules ( how many pull-outs, shelves, fittings, brands, in-built appliances or not and so on..). I still fail to realize why it doesn't strike their pretty heads, that I would never sit to design with you unless I know what value you can offer to me. And without any information on price it is very difficult for anybody to do a valuation.

Oh I forgot, after much prodding, the lady finally conceded that the starting range should be Rs 4.5 - 6 Lakhs. The shipping time is 3-4 months since they will ship the entire kitchen from Italy . I  pray for the day modular kitchens are manufactured in our dear country and lower prices are passed on to us !

 The lady looked so happy towards the end of the visit. We were finally leaving.

My Rating: 3/5

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