Kitchen and Bath Eye Candy: PIRCH

12 years ago

Disclaimer: I don't work for PIRCH, but I have a friend who does. He invited me to the pre-opening reception at their Oak Brook, IL store last night. (The store opened today.)

Oh my... the eye candy! Lovely kitchen and bath vignettes throughout a huge space. The cool thing is that everything is set up to be functional. So for example, in the spa area ("Sanctuary") there are dozens of shower heads, all numbered. Press a number (or a few) on a screen and water flows from the shower head(s). All the faucets in the vignettes (at least all the ones I saw) are hooked up to water sources. It looks like the appliances are hooked up to work as well.

Many of the items are too rich for me (a $12k shower head or a $6900 onyx pedestal sink, for example) but others are more reasonable. PIRCH doesn't sell the cabinets, etc., that are shown in the vignettes, but they partner with the firms who do, so that installation of cabinets, appliances, and fixtures can be coordinated.

There was quite a line to get into the reception, which was invite-only. I was a bit surprised at the number of men there. Maybe that's sexist of me! And whether it was for the free booze, the bikini-clad model demonstrating a shower (there was a male model, too) or the men also jones for awesome kitchens and baths, I thought it was cool that the crowd was rather equally split, gender-wise.

I'm not in the market but can still appreciate some gorgeous (or kind of outlandishly unique) sinks, tubs, fixtures and appliances. If you're near Oak Brook it's worth a peek, especially if you go in the spring when the (outdoor) mall is full of blooming flowers.

(x-post to bathrooms)

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Comments (3)

CEFreeman
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Isn't it fun!
It's just so interesting to see what's out there.
I enjoy it because if I see something I like, I'll darned well figure out a way to 1) make it, 2) imitate it, or 3) save to actually buy it.
Probably why my house will need another 10 years before it's close to finished.

Oh well. In the meanwhile, eye candy feeds us all!
Great review!
bpath
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I'll head there this spring! Do they serve fresh baked chocolate chip cookies like Abt?
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Eric Freedman
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
In my original reveal I indicated that I did not have a good experience with the appliance store. I didn't name names, but since you have posted about them, I will warn you now - look and have fun, and then go find another place to purchase. This company put me through the worst customer service experience that I have ever had. And I am not the only one. This company made me so mad that I posted a YELP review of my experience.

Seems that they have very positive reviews about the store front itself, but many people who have actually ordered including me did not have a good experience.

Here is my review - for the Fountain Valley, CA location.:

The store is beautiful I will agree; however, the backend process of this company is completely broken from my own experience. I was hoping it would get better for others but that's not what I am seeing in some recent reviews and not what happened with me. I do not believe that the management of this company has truly learned from the feedback from this forum or from direct feedback from customers who have had less than stellar experiences. I have decided to step forward and explain my experience.

My order consisted of a range hood insert, double ovens and a Capital Culinarian range top. I ordered these items in the summer of 2012 for delivery in November. In November, I was told that my appliances had arrived. I did pick up my range hood insert, but my kitchen was delayed; so, I requested that Fixtures hold my appliances until the kitchen was ready. I was told that this was not a problem; however, since, the delay was on me, I thought it only fair to pay the balance of what I owed in full.

Fast forwarding, I arranged to have delivery on January 24th. However, my granite installers requested to have the range top on site to ensure that the granite was properly templated. This was where my troubles began. I contacted Fixtures on January 14 to have my delivery moved forward by two days. I was told that their delivery trucks were on a weekly schedule, and that I could take delivery on the following Tuesday. I was told that my ovens were in their warehouse but that my range top was elsewhere. Hmm, elsewhere??? Nevertheless, I asked them to confirm the delivery time and that I wanted the appliances in the morning on Tuesday, January 22.

I had no further word from Fixtures and followed up with an e-mail to them on Thursday, January 17. I did get a reply. "Your oven is in but I'm working on the cooktop. I will be in touch shortly when I have confirmation." I did not hear anything further the rest of Thursday. On Friday I requested information on exactly where my range top was as I was paid in full. I received no communication the remainder of Friday.

On Saturday I visited the store and spoke with Steve. Mind you, I am pretty upset that I have even had to go this far. Steve proceeded to tell me that the range top was still at the factory. At the factory??? That's not the right answer. As the factory was closed, he told me that he would call me on Monday about delivery. I told him that I wanted a call by 11:00am.

On Monday, 11am passed. I called and left Steve a message, and said that I was going to pay the store another visit if I did not hear from him in the next hour. Noon rolled around, and off I went to visit Fixture's again. This time, I got the other store manager - don't remember her name. She checked on the appliance delivery and proceeded to tell me that my range top was sold to another customer. WOW, I finally get the truth. I admittedly got very irrate.

I was told that there was a range top in Reno, and that they were going to work on delivery but they could not deliver on Tuesday but could deliver on Thursday.
I told her that Thursday was unacceptable. I then demanded that the floor model be pulled and delivered to my home for the granite template. I did get a follow up call from Tom Cavallo. I told him that the backend process of his company was completely broken. I asked for a refund of the installation charges given all of my troubles. He agreed and said that it would be refunded the following morning. Did the refund happen the following morning?? Nope. I had to follow up yet again to get the refund.

There is no management at this company and no problem solving. At every turn of my issues with them, the solutions all came from me, the customer. Just about all of the follow up came from me, the customer. Unfortunately I am following suit of a growing list of unhappy customers that have actually ordered product - 1 star is all that is deserved here.

If they had actually done a good job with me, they would have had a dishwasher and refrigerator sale as well - which would have rounded out replacing all of my appliances with them. I will be looking elsewhere.

Tom and Jeff - No need to retort to my review of your company- there is nothing you can do about your failure with me. Just move forward and fix your issues so that other customers do not have to suffer.