A FAMILY-owned firm making bespoke furniture has turned to modern technology to help its customers dream.
Blueprint Fitted Furniture has launched a virtual showroom tour in a bid to help people shop from home – and it’s been well received.
The furniture store, on Toutley Road, has been running for almost a decade and creates its own bespoke furniture in house.
From selecting colours to making unique items to size, everything is conducted from the store in Wokingham’s town centre.
Helen Vickers, co-owner of Blueprint Fitted Furniture, said it had not been easy navigating the pandemic over the past year.
“It’s made the sales side of the business really hard, because people might not want to buy our furniture when they can’t come and see it,” she explained.
“This inspired us to put this virtual showroom tour together, to give people confidence that we are here and we are an established business.”
From showcasing handles in car parks to offering cabinet colours over Zoom, the business owner said Blueprint Fitted Furniture is doing everything it can to support customers within the coronavirus guidelines.
And she said that all in all, the past year has been a bit of a rollercoaster despite the business booming.
“During the first lockdown, we shut down completely for about six weeks,” she explained.
“It all felt so unclear, who was allowed to work and who wasn’t so we just stopped.
“The demand for home improvements has just been crazy though, and towards September time we were busier than we had ever been.”
Since the initial lockdown, Ms Vickers said Blueprint Fitted Furniture has adopted a range of covid-safe measures to accompany its new virtual showroom.
From confirming customers do not have coronavirus symptoms to installing hand sanitising stations on delivery vans, she said it is vital everybody follows the regulations.
“I think it helps customers feel a lot safer,” she said.
“And a lot of people have been very understanding of the situation, and are open to doing things in different ways.
“As people get used to seeing things in a more virtual way too, we’re doing more Zoom consultations around the showroom.
“It’s all about finding different ways of doing things.”
Anybody considering a home renovation of their own should visit Blueprint Fitted Furniture’s website: www.blueprintfittedfurniture.co.uk
To watch the company’s virtual showroom tour visit: www.facebook.com/Blueprintfittedfurniture
