Page 369 - AmericasMart: Market Magazine July 2018

Teach by doing and
showing and sharing
A cooking school was part of the initial plan, in fact the gorgeous demonstration kitchen was actually the first thing that was designed and built into the space.
“It started on a much smaller scale,” shares Anne. “In our first year, we averaged two classes a week, now we probably have six classes a week—basically every night, and some lunchtime classes as well.”
The family doesn’t claim to be culinary experts, though obviously they’ve learned a lot along the way. Instead, they rely on local chefs, caterers and other experts to teach the classes, which are a mixture of demonstration and hands-on style formats.
The cooking school is instrumental in getting folks in the door, as well as in promoting and selling certain products, especially in the kitchenware department.
“We get a lot of first-time customers \[via the classes\],” says Anne. “People will be gifted a class or a friend will bring them.”
A new online registration system has helped draw even more new customers.
Little customers can
drive bigger sales
One surprisingly successful component
to the cooking school has been the
kids’ classes and summer camps. The classes and camps were added because of demand; “people are always looking for things to do with their kids,” says Anne.
A few of Southern Home & Kitchen’s staff members have teaching backgrounds, which enables them to ensure that the program structure is tailored to the needs of younger cooks.
And kids and adults alike often leave with a purchase in hand, motivated by the
10 percent discount that students enjoy the day of their class.
“Some chefs are really good at recommending products” during their demo, notes Anne. “We usually see that when a chef mentions a specific product, it sells through that night.”
Though most kids probably don’t have much disposable income for buying kitchenware, even the kids’ classes help spur business. “They might not be buying the nice cookware that the adults are, but they get obsessed about certain little things and they’ll convince Mom to buy
it for them,” says Anne. The hot items among the teen and tween clientele are Gurgle Pots, a fish-shaped pitcher that makes a funny noise as water is poured from it. “We use them in our demo kitchen and every single kid has to buy a Gurgle Pot,” Annie says. >
TABLETOP AND GIFT/GOURMET & HOUSEWARES
AmericasMart.com | 345