As Independent Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom showrooms we sometimes find it difficult to get out and check out the competition. In this series of posts I want to do this for you, taking an in-depth look at the national retailers that, whether we like it or not, are taking a lot of our customers money and attention. These companies have huge marketing budgets along with a high profile national presence which makes it hard for us to compete. If you are an independent KBB retailer and you need help to stand out with your marketing, online or traditional, please contact me today I’d love to help. terry@cloud3.co.uk 07747 016264

OK let’s take a look at Bathroom/Tile Mountain!

Overview of Bathroom/Tile Mountain – September 2024

Company Overview: Eurorad Limited is the registered company behind the retail and online business of Bathroom Mountain and Tile Mountain.

The current company commenced trading in the summer of 2020 and have grown strongly over the past few years.

They currently list 9 retail outlets in Stoke-on-Trent, Stockport, Nottingham, Liverpool, Birmingham, Stockton-on-Tees, Milton Keynes and the store I visited in Basildon, Essex, although some of these are dedicated tile outlets and some are bathroom and tile showrooms.

They supply budget bathrooms and tiles online and through their growing showroom network.

Financial Performance: Eurorad Limited’s latest published accounts for the year ending 31 December 2022 show strong financial growth. Turnover increased by 8.5% to £30.7 million, up from £28.3 million in 2021. Gross profit rose by 14.7% to £15.8 million, while operating profit increased by 14.8% to £3.03 million. After tax, the profit for the year was £2.48 million, a 16.9% rise from the previous year.

Net assets almost doubled, growing from £2.7 million to £5.2 million, driven by higher retained earnings. These figures reflect Eurorad’s strong financial position, with improved profitability and liquidity.

Website: The company has two individual websites one for the tile business and the other for the bathroom business. They both have the same design, look and feel although they have different offers and promotions. The websites are both in a standard online shop layout but they do have an inspiration section in the bathroom website which shows some interesting posts. The tile website has a great tile visualiser where you can upload your own image and virtually tile it and it’s very good.

Social Media Presence:

• YouTube: BATHROOM MOUNTAIN – 1.07k subscribers and 154 videos with 127 being shorts. The channel features nicely produced ‘how to’ videos and some product showcases along with customer refurbs. Their most popular short has 67k views but they get around 2-5k views on Shorts in general and although they have some popular long-form videos they appear to have abandoned this format in favour of Shorts. They get quite low interaction. They have another channel for the Tile Mountain – 13.1k subscribers and 320 videos, this channel is similar in content to the bathroom channel, however they focus just as much on long form as well as Shorts videos. It seems this one is the more popular channel with more views and better interaction.
• Instagram: bathroommountainuk 16.2k followers and 1,183 posts, tilemountainuk 33.8k followers and 1,664 posts, showcasing all of their products and special offers with mostly low interaction, although they do post regularly with OK engagement.
• Facebook: 1.4k followers and 1k likes they post regularly with products and offers and some customer refurb images they have low engagement. They have another Facebook page for the tile business with 16.2 likes and 10k followers, regular posts with low interaction.

Customer Perception: They have amazing reviews on Trustpilot with an excellent 5 stars based on a huge 17.3k reviews for their bathroom business and 4.7 stars out of 34.8k reviews for the tile side. Their customers love their service and positive buying experience.

Finance Offers: They don’t appear to offer any finance or easy-buy services.

Guarantees: The business offers a mixture of 5 years and 1 year warranties.

Showroom Visit August 2024: I hadn’t heard of Bathroom/Tile Mountain until they opened a brand new store local to me. The showroom is on a brand new busy little retail park next to a Starbucks and a Lidl and opposite a B&Q. The showroom is double fronted and is a co-located bathroom and tile outlet with a Tile Mountain sign above one entrance and Bathroom Mountain sign above the other entrance, although both entrances lead to the same retail space.

As I walk in through the bathroom entrance the high ceilings and layout makes the whole place seem very spartan and a little cold and old fashioned with the anthracite office style carpet throughout. There’s an acrylic roll top slipper bath on an island display next to the entrance, it’s nicely presented, tiled with a price of £599 inc VAT for the bath.

There’s a nice area of vanity units all well priced however they must be changing a display as there’s a unit stuck in the middle of the floor along with some boxes making access to one of the displays difficult.

As I examine the units they all appear to be quite low quality and very light, the sanitaryware is a mixture of composite, acrylic and porcelain and things like toilet seats not fitting well and basin mixers feeling a little rough in operation adds to that budget feel. Saying that the units look OK and are very well priced.

They have an area with WC and free standing basins, it all looks very old fashioned but you can’t argue at the prices, a 55cm basin and full pedestal is shown at just £59.99 inc VAT, but it’s not clear.

A lady comes over to me and asks if I need help to which I ask if that the price is for the basin and the pedestal, she says she will check, then comes back and says ‘yes it is and shall she order me a set’ I decline and thank her.

The bulk of the bathroom showroom is vanity units in various styles and finishes with floor standing back to wall WC’s, all very cheap.

There’s an area at the back that has a large tap stand with mirrored cabinets above all feel very low budget. They also have an area dedicated to heated towel rails.

I go up the stairs to the mezzanine which shows more complete bathroom displays and shower enclosures.

Back downstairs I go over to the tile section where there’s a good selection of on trend stone and porcelain tiles in large formats along with some laminate and wood flooring options.

I find a desk with a salesperson and ask if they design to which he says ‘no’ but he can help to ensure things fit and give general advice. I ask about installation which they don’t do, but he says there are some installers business cards by the tile counter which I’m welcome to take, they also offer no finance options. He says most items can be delivered to me within a few days.

I ask about tiles and he says I have to enquire at the tile counter (which is separate from the bathroom counter).

Conclusion: OK so these are not really competitors to us for full install as they don’t offer that, they also don’t offer any known brands and they are definitely in the ‘budget’ end of the market, however, they are very cheap and will take business from the bottom and middle market, especially with the tiles which are not so brand dependent.

I was very underwhelmed with the showroom offerings and you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to trying to piece together a complete bathroom from them, but they are good for say cloakrooms or small areas where compact furniture works best and they have a very large offering.

No matter what I think you can’t deny that their customers love them and although they only have a small number of showrooms at present they are expanding, so dismiss them at your peril, they maybe cheap but to some of your clients, they will be very tempting.

If you would like to discuss the flaws I’ve found and my strategies to allow you to compete as an independent please visit my website at www.cloud3.co.uk or drop me a line at terry@cloud3.co.uk or give me a call on 07747 016264.