ALKU® first to open brand store in physical shopping district

A surprising place that offers experience and exploits the potential of Breda's city center

On Friday, April 5, ALKU will be the first window frame brand in the Netherlands to open a brand store in the physical shopping street. The experience store at Ridderstraat 6 (near the Grote Markt) in Breda is an inspiring place where shoppers will soon be able to see, feel and experience ALKU's products. Advisors will also be on hand to answer questions, advise and inspire. ALKU has a first with the shop, never before has a national player in window frames moved into the shopping street.

From industrial park to heart of downtown

Roland de Weijer, director of ALKU talks about the choice to bring a completely new product category to the attention of high street visitors. And he explains why it was chosen to present plastic window frames, sliding doors and, doors in a compact retail setting. Roland: "Anyone who has ever purchased window frames knows that you deliberately have to make the trek to an industrial park or a remote showroom location to get your bearings or get advice. An activity that people would rather put off or at least not have on their favorite list of leisure activities. With a brand store in the shopping street, we hope to lower the threshold and help people early on in their orientation process. We do this in a warm setting so that the real feeling of home is created." Visitors can try out the atmosphere in the experience store and get a view of the possibilities.

Leveraging the potential of the shopping street

With the concept of the experience store, entitled ALKU In Zicht, ALKU literally gives visitors a view of window frames. Roland: "People who visit our showroom are positively surprised by the enormous variety of colors, styles, innovations and products. From now on, we can already offer that inspiration in the inviting, homey brand store." Besides visibility for ALKU, Roland finds it valuable to show other companies that the shopping street offers great opportunities to present your brand, even if you don't sell jeans, candles or tea towels. "We all know that the shopping street is struggling, but a city center or a furniture boulevard has a lot of untapped potential. You see those precisely when you look through a different lens, as we are doing now. If our brand store also gives other companies the idea to come to the downtown area, we would love that."