Trellidor Jeffreys Bay has a wonderful showroom that looks like a home-from-home. Customers love it as it helps them visualise what the security barriers they select will look like in their own homes. Here is the story of how this showroom was created, as told by Trellidor franchise owner Taryn Schutz.
The search for the perfect premises
When Morne and I purchased the Trellidor Jeffreys Bay franchise from Ferdi and Telana Pieterse (who now own the Trellidor Port Elizabeth South franchise), it was located in very nice premises not far from Fountains Mall at the entrance to the town. There wasn’t much passing traffic there, however, so we wanted to move to a more visible location.
This started a two year journey with many ups and downs but ended with an award-winning showroom that we’re very proud of.
It all began with a Sunday drive down a street in Jeffreys Bay that we don’t normally use. We spotted a for sale sign on the overgrown pavement of a property in exactly the street where we had hoped to have a showroom. This was Da Gama Road, the main thoroughfare through the town.
Morne and I stopped and peeked over the wall, deciding it was perfect. We started the buying process just short of two years ago.
To say we’ve had a few hiccups along the way would be an understatement! From restrictive title deeds to marauding termites, hitting water pipes and having geysers stolen, we have had a few noteworthy challenges.
All hands on deck
The sale finally went through about a year ago, and that’s when the tidying up, building and gardening started. Everyone has played a role in our new showroom. From our gardener that is now permanently employed as our garage manager/assistant installer, to the installers becoming our carpenters and tree movers, and the admin ladies doing double duty as packers and movers.
It has been a very hands on project and so very close to our hearts.
Towards the end of last year the time came to bounce showroom design ideas between ourselves and our Trellidor Regional Manager (Coastal), who was a great help. Tino Govender of MEPE (showroom outfitters) patiently worked with our very specific design to deliver exactly what we asked for.
His guys drove through the night from Durban to install our showroom within one day, in which no ask was too much.
Security to suit our customers’ lifestyles
We decided to use photographs taken by Morne of views from our clients homes and surrounding areas as a backdrop to our products. We are very happy with the results. It’s a real novelty for our clients when they visit the new showroom and recognise their farm, the St Francis Bay canals, or landmarks like the Cape St Francis lighthouse.
Our aim with the showroom was to create a lifestyle environment for our clients to appreciate the incorporation of security products into their homes and offices without compromising strength or aesthetics.
So we’ve installed the products on our showroom doors and windows, which really shows off their strength against the natural backdrop of the garden.
We also have Trellidor showroom stands with all the products, including Retractable security gates, burglar bars in all the different design options, Rollerstyle shutters and Clear Guard security screens.
And we look forward to finishing off our showroom when an exciting new Trellidor product is launched at the end of the month!
