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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Sleek Modular Kitchens

I chanced upon a second setup of Sleek modular kitchens and was wondering about what they were doing differently. How is it that the 2-3 people who sit around the kitchens are totally disinterested in any sort of customer interaction and hence any opportunity for leads and subsequent conversion. I assume it relates to the way their incentive is structured and after my repeated experience, I am obviously curious.

Copyright: Sleek modular kitchen

The funny thing is that my first visit to Sleek kitchens was very similar. It was at a different HomeStop outlet ( maybe Sleek has worked some arrangement with HomeStop though I doubt that gives them any projects automatically) and there were 2 men and a woman working on their laptops. We were exploring around and were months away from deciding which brand to go ahead. 

I looked around, pulled some drawers and checked the kitchens. Then men didn't bother and the woman glanced. I was wondering when someone would come around and explain what they offered etc. So I tried giving the " I am interested, please come and explain looks." I was really surprised but since I wanted to know the type of finish used in one and the approximate price, I went up to the guy sitting closest to the kitchens and asked him. Few questions ahead, I realized that he neither had sufficient knowledge and nor was he interested. After I explicitly asked him to show us around, and he reluctantly got up, the woman thankfully took over. She was the Sales Manager and adept in her knowledge of the kitchens and everything around it. She took our contact details, sent me approximate quotations and even pursued me for a while. 

However, I also remember a defensive attitude during the follow-ups. "I called because you said you might decide in few months". Really?? If I want the customer to buy the modular kitchen from my brand, I will call because I want to convert them and not because of any other reason. As far as the brand is concerned, if I was a decision making authority I would actually just keep 1 knowledgeable sales person around and remove the unfriendly fixtures to some other office location. Judging from Mouthshut, I am not the only person who feels the same.

The experience continued with the website. I tried to download the catalogue unsuccessfully  by entering my details several times. And I was unable to get a catalogue emailed to myself. While the website looks great, I actually don't know why they maintain several websites like  http://www.sleekworld.com, http://sleekworld.co.in and http://sleekkitchens.com/modular-kitchen. I am hoping they stopped at 3 and there aren't more lurking around.

Copyright : Sleek modular kitchen

As quoted, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I did get some help in the form of a friend  who had purchased their Sleek modular kitchens. While the kitchen was very nice and he is happy , I got to know that the overall experience was not smooth. The different folks who take care of the various activities weren't in sync. He also had to  call some senior folks to get work done in time. However they did take care of damaged modules and that sounds like a life-saver. If interested, one can get an idea of their positive customer experiences on their website. If you do order a Sleek modular kitchen, my friend's advice is try to figure who will be the team servicing you and get some references.

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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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How we ended up choosing Haecker Kitchens

Courtesy: Hacker Kitchens India

I was planning to write couple of posts but procrastination got the better of me. Last year we finalized upon
the modular kitchen brand to go ahead with. Ironically it was one I never thought I would.

We spent quite a bit of 2013 trying to visit different modular kitchen brands ( on my list ) and trying to get a feel for them. A lot of the visits initially left us confused but after couple of visits we had a fair idea. I think it would have really helped us to have visited the stores over a shorter span of time. Some of the visits like Home Town, Cucine Lube, Sleek, Espiq , Scavolini ( @ Sunrise Home Solutions ) were more of walk-ins because we discovered their presence in a mall. We also visited others like Veneta Cucine, Nolte, Hacker, Alno, Gilma Spagniola respectively.

Courtesy: Hacker Kitchens India

We had some initial discussion with Sleek, Veneta Cucine and Nolte . Sleek and Veneta Cucine even went ahead and gave us an approximate quotation based on our kitchen plan whereas Nolte was insistent on waiting till they could visit the site, do accurate measurements and give us a quote. I would have to appreciate both Sleek and Veneta Cucine for their slight aggressiveness to convert it to a deal; especially where the other folks were mildly interested. Of course our flat delivery timelines were to blame. By this time we had decided on our top 3 brands that we would approach when the time was ripe and they were - Nolte, Hacker and Veneta Cucine.

 I tried looking all over the web for customer reviews and stories of experience to find none. Mouthshut.com had a scathing and scary review of an experience of Veneta Cucine. Thankfully I also managed to chance upon European Kitchen Design blog which is written by a guy named "kitchenguy". If you are looking for some serious research on European brands, you should check out his posts ( and more importantly the comments) on European brands, his personal top 20 and the 101 on Laminates and Lacquer. We did manage to get a better idea of the brands even though it finally boils down to the dealer and service. If you see more German brands being recommended, then do remember that the a lot of the top (and large) modular kitchen brands in the world are German, have been around for about a century. But there are others too , depending on which spectrum of the price range you are looking at. And this spectrum is highly divided mind you.

Courtesy: Hacker Kitchens India

Some time back,  our builder offered  us an option where they would   have wardrobe and modular kitchens done from Nolte Express (from Nolte brand), Interwood ( Indian brand operated by the same owners of the Alno dealership in Bangalore and Impuls (from Alno). As usual, we were given a timeline to decide in order to avail of the discounted prices which already seemed a bit on the higher side. Unfortunately for us we liked the exteriors and design of both Interwood and Impuls and the interiors of Impuls and Nolte. However, Impuls was well over our budget.Although we were getting very little from Nolte in terms of offerings. Since we had liked Nolte a lot during our first visit and I had a bias towards it , we thought slight changes would help. We did visit the store and although they were patient and helpful, we never got the revised quotes and were also put off by a lot of things. 

Anyhow door-bitching or a version of it seems to be available at most German modular kitchen stores so please pull out your Ralph Laurens before you visit them.Long story short, we also visited Alno store again. (The first visit was a very good one and we had a great experience. Would really recommend the sales guy.) Due to the tie-up with our builder and because they ( or perhaps our builder ) were scared that if we sit with the designer during the tweaking of the kitchen design, we might figure out the actuals behind the pricing model, we were unable to communicate with satisfaction. The whole thing of not being able to sit was the designer was absolutely ridiculous because it was very easy to do the back calculation well ahead and realize that we were getting a negligible discount. Trying to outsmart your customers ( or potential customers) doesn't really help.

Image copyright: Koel Das

Alno's loss was Hacker's gain. By chance I had called them up to figure out the process of getting a quotation. Some brands insist on paid consultations for detailed design. Usually this is refunded if you choose the brand. Hacker sent us a quote nearer to what we were initially looking at. The design and the quote were reasonable and the designer spent sufficient time with us to give us a design within the budget we required. She was very patient and helpful and would even point out what would be expensive and out of bounds and where they could help us. The only thing that we felt queasy about was paying 75% of the cost upfront and 25% later during arrival of the kitchen at the sea port. All this is paid upfront and you are yet to see the kitchen in real life. Installation happens when it reaches your city and when you are ready to do it ( ie. flat is available, etc ).  Of course we went through the initial payments and they also helped us with the timelines  and even with last minute tweaks. 

Image copyright: Koel Das

I guess looking back, it was the comfort of being able to sit with the designer, communicate what we wanted,needed and could afford. We were never pushed to buy a higher priced module which I genuinely appreciate. We had been very specific about our requirements and affordability with Nolte and Alno, and hence I find it ironic that they couldn't identify us as serious buyers. End of design phase with Hacker, I could even point out what changes could have been made to reduce the price of the kitchen offered by Impuls (Alno). Obviously a designer would have been able to do it better. We did however need to remind the designer to send the appliances, skirting and few other fittings during installation, and in times of conflict the scheduling manager seemed to be influenced by whoever (customers requiring installation) made the most noise. All of this can be managed with some prior planning obviously.

The appliances are all from Hafele Nagold with few from the Nagold J series. The sink  and faucet are from Franke and the countertop is a Shitake Caesarstone (for which Hafele India is the sole dealer). There are very few installers for this engineered quartz and they do an amazing job with the mitre edge. You can barely see the join.The pendant lights are inspired from the Tom Dixon collection and were purchased from Ivanka Lumiere.

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Nolte Home Studio -German Modular Kitchens

Courtesy: HomeStudioIndia

 I finally managed to visit one of my favorite modular kitchen brands, Nolte. Among all the kitchen brands that I have come across, the German brands stand out by their simplicity in design and adherence to function than form. I would have loved to check out some Scandinavian brands but I don't think we have any in Bangalore (yet). I use the word "yet" because Ikea is apparently looking at Bangalore as a possible location; and when it does I am sure to pounce on its collection with much awaited glee.

Anyhow, the front desk is well- managed. On informing that we were looking around for modular kitchens, me and my silently admiring partner were taken around the studio by an experienced professional. Nolte has fewer models on display than Cucine Lube and Veneta Cucine but more than Haecker. It also has lesser options available. However the samples of finishes for wood, stone countertops are all available. So you can see what you get. And I honestly think that is great. 

Among the different finishes, I actually loved the different lacquer finishes especially the glossy ones. I think there was one with 15 (?) coats which looked almost the same as glass finishes. Wasn't very impressed with their vintage designs too. 

Courtesy: HomeStudioIndia

I am hoping the designers who come up with the initial and final designs are as experienced as the sales personnel. The ones I viewed looked tad young for me to spend my money on them.  Sorry if I sound biased but that's the way it is. The fact that we were exploring Nolte as a brand almost 9 months before we could actually place an order doesn't sit very well with most stores. Nolte Studio wasn't very different about it. However they agreed to do a basic quote if we sent our floor plan in CAD format. Unfortunately in our case the architects are not going to release the CAD format. So they have to make do with the PDF format. In such a scenario, Nolte wanted to go to the site and do the measurements to come up with the basic design. Currently I am not sure whether that comes under the paid consultation or the basic free quotation providing. Either ways, if we go ahead with Nolte, I am actually fine with it. 

However I have to admit, Veneta Cucine impressed me more in the communications department. Their sales person followed up very regularly with me, provided basic quotations across different finishes and has communicated even after. While I am yet to short list my top 3, the solid stuff of Nolte makes it an easy entrant of this list. With that quality, I probably would not mind going for an entry - level modular kitchen with some basic finishes that I can change later at some point in time. Although this doesn't fall under kitchens, Nolte also provides some basic furniture. Needless to say their quality as very good as well. 

On design, product Nolte scores high. They are definitely low on the number of choices that are available to you for selection, In terms of finishes, colors, etc. Unfortunately I still don't have a lot of info on how as a dealer/distributor, the Bangalore centre performs. And according to the European Kitchen Design blog, one should finalize a modular kitchen based on affordability ( obviously), brand, design, and finally dealer/distributor. This is where a design consultant would come in handy. If you have used  Nolte for your kitchen in Bangalore do drop me a note. I would love to get in touch and know about your experiences. Or if you had a look at it, considered it but selected some other brand, that would provide useful information as well. 

Update: 
We went to Nolte again. It was one of the 3 brands that our builder was working with to offer modular kitchens in our apartments. We had seen the mockups built by Nolte and the other two brands. To be real honest we were least excited with the mockup by Nolte. But we thought we could ask for modifications and get it to a desirable state. 

When we reached Nolte we did offer our requirements for modifications. However, a little bit into the process we realized that there were too many constraints due to Nolte's setup with the builder. So we thought maybe it was a better idea to get the kitchen done later and at retail prices. We couldn't see how  the design changes were being made in real time and hence visualize how the price was changing. So this made it all the more difficult to get a sense of the design changes vs prices.  

The sales person reminded us many a time that prices of Nolte kitchens start at `800,000 and hence it seemed like we were getting a big favour from them. Of course he forgot to specify that we were getting a sub-brand of Nolte, named Nolte Express and hence the prices were considerably lower. Additionally they had come  up with a basic design which didn't make things  and hence the choice of kitchen brand any better.  Despite all of that and the fact that he was insistent that we do not try to go for a different price brand i.e. Nolte, he did spend time in explaining  and displaying stuff. Nevertheless the entire experience and follow-up was a major put off.  We somehow never received the revised quotes and I have no idea why. Considering that we had almost mentally planned to go ahead with Nolte, months before the builder actually came up with the options, the entire experience was an unpleasant surprise. However it did help to make our choices easier. 

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Haecker Kitchens - German Modular Kitchens

My plan of visiting Hacker Kitchens on a Saturday has been repeatedly postponed over

Courtesy: Hacker India

several months, thanks to the typical trials and tribulations of us as a working couple. The only day of a weekend where you can get any work done is a Saturday. As a result, higher priorities take over and it doesn't help that looking at modular kitchens doesn't fall into " things to do" for my partner who is usually affable to shopping ( possibly because I have low patience for the exercise of shopping itself ). 

The interest in going to see Hacker kitchens was higher because in Bangalore they are housed with a whole lot of other brands under Trisha Interiors. Trisha also has furniture by Hülsta, a Hafele Design studio, furniture by Rolf Benz and few other imported brands of lighting, fixtures, etc. I liked some of the lighting installations a lot and might go back to them. The fixtures were nice but honestly I wasn't very interested at this point. The furniture designs were nice, not wow. I think I might like the designs by Ebony Gautier even better. But then Hülsta uses HDF instead of MDF like Gautier and that probably makes a difference to the overall strength of the product. 

At one point of time, I also felt that the furniture show cased by Nolte and CC India might have felt a bit more sturdy and strong. Pricing was way higher for a comparable size of furniture. Of course if one is interested a discount on furniture existing in the store ( amounting to a clearance I suppose ) could be worked out. However as the sales guy repeatedly mentioned that I should check out the website and if I like a design, then we can place an order ; which gets transferred to Germany from when actual manufacturing starts. Time of delivery is same as modular kitchens,  which is 3 months. 

My visit to Hacker Kitchens particularly was extremely disappointing. Maybe I shouldn't have given out info that we were just exploring and were recommended to check out Hacker. There were 2 sales girls available. The one who started giving a demo seemed to have lesser knowledge than me. While the next one was better, it didn't help that she kept showing some detailed features without focusing on the basics - finish, design , materials.  A clear difference from my experience at Nolté Home Studio and at Veneta Cucine. It didn't help that there were not a lot of models on display. There was 1 entry level model. 2 of the other 5/6 models were very nice, but extremely at the higher end of the range but the design was guaranteed to raise eyeballs. I believe I wasn't even shown ALL the models. 

Courtesy: Trisha Interiors

Visiting a couple of stores, and researching has led me to be able to estimate the basic price of most models. Either the sales girl exaggerated the prices extremely high or Hacker models are very high-priced. I was given pricing of 15 Lakhs for a laminated kitchen set which should not have been more than 6-7L. A wonderful bridge kitchen was supposed to be 45L. While I can't debate the latter, I can definitely debate the former price. From the little demo that I got, I wasn't even sure if they were comparable in quality to the Veneta Cucine models I was shown. For sake of research and brand value , I'll assume that they were. And for some reason, my dear partner took to the brand or like me , he has a positive bias towards German brands. 

Finally getting the door bitch treatment while being handed a brochure instead of the catalog didn't also work well with me. Apparently Hacker cannot also provide basic quotations even after sending the floor plan by email. You need to attend a presentation and I assume that falls under the initial paid design consultation. While Hacker is a reputed brand, I still don't have info of Trisha Interiors as a dealer. With a bad experience initially , I might override my partner 's positive evaluation of the brand on this one. Let's see. 

With the location of Trisha Interiors bang in the centre of the city, I presume that it has provided interior solutions to a host of people. While the greater number of clients would probably be the moneyed business community, it would really help to get information on Trisha's delivery capabilities. Else I don't have a lot of inputs yet to enter this brand my top 3.

Hacker location in Bangalore:
TRISHA, 1A CASTLE STREET, ASHOK NAGAR, BANGALORE-560025
Tel : +91-80-41131769/70, Mob : +91-9740999350,
Email:hacker@trisha.co.in

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Espiq Kuchen - German Modular Kitchen

 

Courtesy: Espiq

Espiq Kuchen is a German modular kitchen brand which is possibly new in India. Looks like they have a tie-up with an Indian partner named O'teak. However I can't really confirm these details. They have a new sales office in Ascendas mall in ITPL, Whitefiled. Unfortunately for the sales manager ( if he was one ) we managed to troop in there during one of our mall visits. For a second or 2, it seemed like we should not have entered the office. However I stubbornly continued " We have come to look at the kitchens. ". 

There wasn't much to look at honestly. Two extremely small layouts of few cupboards and modules. One of them had a counter. Just like my experience in Gilma-Spagnol, I had to ask very specific questions on what material was present. Was it veneer, or lacquer or something else. I believe the sales guy called the veneer material as wood. Of course by then I had given up hope of getting proper info. 

I proceeded to inquire about the pricing. Often pricing tells you a lot about the brand etc. That was when I faced the next bouncer of a question. " What bhk flat do you have ? If it is 2 bhk then it is Rs X Lakh and if it is 3 bhk then it is Rs Y Lakh". ( For some reason I can't remember the exact pricing. However I do remember that the kitchen for 3 bhk was priced at less than Rs 4 Lakh ). Well there wasn't much of a problem with that , except that despite the number of bedrooms, flats can have different sizes. Hence their kitchens would have different sizes. As a result, the cost would automatically differ. So  I was a bit surprised to hear fixed quotations for the different number of bedrooms. 

Finally I decided to just collect the catalog and make a quiet exit. Unfortunately they didn't have catalogs. "How am I supposed to get to see your designs to choose. You don't really have too many designs here". The guy promptly pointed me to their website www.espiq.in and handed a business card with the details. Although my hand flew out right away to collect the card, he decided to hand it to  my silent partner who was just aimlessly staring away while I carried on the conversation. Being used to such behavior, I just flicked out the card from the recipient's fingers and left with a "Thank you". Of course I can't remember what I was thanking him for. 

To be honest, I am not sure I liked the materials that I saw. Apart from the few modules and cupboards, they used an Elica chimney and professed to use Hettich fittings. I am assuming that according to the conversation customization might be limited. However the pictures on the Espiq website are rather nice. There are also some offers on total interior packages which include wardrobe, dressers, etc which might make for a good value proposition. 

Location in Bangalore:
EspiQ Kuchen
Shop N.2F22, II Floor, Ascendas Park Square Maill
ITPB, Whitefield Main Road, Bangalore 560066
Tel: 080-28026650

Website"
www.espiq.in
www.oteak.in

Email:
sales@espiq.in
sales@oteak.in

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Bulthaup Kitchens - German Modular kitchens in India , not in Bangalore

This blog is about modular kitchen brands in Bangalore. Hence mentioning a brand that is not yet

Courtesy: Bulthaup

present in Bangalore is probably not relevant. However, even in this age of excess of information, I know how difficult it is to get just the correct amount of information. Hence, anybody looking for Bulthaup should find this useful.

Browsing through my favorite home décor magazine , Elle Décor India. I was making a list of the modular kitchen brands and their contact details in Bangalore. Half of the time, the details are not always present. You will probably need to make a call or rely on dear ole Google. Anyhow I chanced upon a page with a wonderful display on Bulthaup. I loved their clean lines and simplistic design. Desire led to action and hence , Googling led me to their Indian website which listed only Delhi and Mumbai as their locations.

I guess I should have stopped there and not searched further. But for some reason, my inquisitive-ness got the better of me and I decided to contact them by email. Calling stores in the past, has always produced disastrous results, especially if the store is located in Delhi. I usually get a very chatty person on the other line who has no information other than the fact that the only person who has any information is not present. Despite leaving my contact details, I have never received a call back from that other person.



Courtesy: Bulthaup

Anyhow,  I sent a cursory email to the Bulthaup India contact id asking for details of their retailers in Bangalore. Few days back I was surprised to get an email response from them. How nice! They respond back. Quite some information about the brand and it's partners, which are all available below. Despite a very specific question on whether they are present in Bangalore, I get an invite to visit their stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Leave it to my addled brain to figure out that it means " No we are not present in Bangalore and don't have any idea when we would be . However, if you are really desperate, you should visit us in Delhi or Mumbai." Thanks for the invite, Bulthaup. Much as I love the designs ; I'll take a rain check. Some other day..

Below is an  edited communique from Bulthaup. For more details, please visit their website or get in touch with them over email, call or best visit their store:) !

"Top Products India Pvt. Ltd. (TPI) is an authorized bulthaup and Sub-Zero/Wolf partner with exclusive distribution rights in the territory of India. Furthermore, we recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Mercedes Benz furniture collection!
TPI's policy is to provide the customer with the full scope of service, including Sales, custom-made Design, Installations, and after-sale Technical Support for the kitchen and appliances. We are already associated with very prestigious houses and luxury projects in India, aiming to the highest standards and performance.

 Further information can be found at the websites:

1.bulthaup – a top tier kitchen brand from Germany www.bulthaup.co.in

2.Subzero/Wolf – the leading company in the category of high-end Kitchen appliances www.subzero-wolf.com

3.De-Dietrich – an innovative brand from France, well known for its technology and cooking performance, but yet economic pricing www.dedietrich.co.uk

4.Mercedes Benz furniture collection – presenting Italian genuine design, inspired by the top gears of Mercedes Benz and uncompromising leather material. "

Bulthaup in Mumbai:    
Construction House A,
24th Road off Linking Road
400052 Mumbai
Tel. 0 22 61 311411

Bulthaup in Delhi:
Splendor Forum, Ground Floor
Plot #3, District Center, Jasola, New Delhi - 110025
Tel: 011 42 425959

Email:
sales@bulthaup.co.in

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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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In the search of a Modular Kitchen in Bangalore

Quite some time back I chanced upon an Elle Decor magazine and that introduced me to the world of interiors. Since a lot of my work touches upon Design Thinking and related problem solving design methods ( I did end up using Jobs To Be Done for designing my laundry and store space successfully), I realized that good design isn't about pretty objects. It's about making things work they should and making the life of the user easier. One of the products of that understanding was that a well-designed modular kitchen would make my life easier. I was very particular about the shutter finish and since I didn't have contacts of really good contractors and designers, modular furniture (and  hence kitchen ) brands seemed to be the other option.

Once I was settled on the fact that I would be purchasing a modular kitchen from the available brands, choosing one became a hell of a job.

How do you compare one brand to another? 

Most importantly how is the experience after you make the payment. 

Is the installation handled well? 

What about post-sales service? 

Interestingly, although the modular kitchen brands have been around in India for many years, there isn't enough info about them. Apart from one review on Veneta Cucine  which is not encouraging obviously none of the opinions floating around are from actual owners. ( I believe Veneta Cucine lost a lot of potential customers because of that extremely objective review.) All this makes things very difficult. What I tend to assume from this is that either the owners are extremely satisfied or the negatives aren't extreme enough for them to come and vent online. 

Either ways, assumption wasn't enough for me. I hoped that when folks would come across my blog they would share their experiences. While that hasn't happened a lot, the blog and some of the comments would be quite helpful to anyone on the same journey as me. And my only request would be to add your experiences here so that others can also benefit from the knowledge. 

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