This month, the award-winning, Copenhagen-born kitchen brand Reform is adding a small piece of Scandinavia to the city of New York, when its flagship showroom opens on the picturesque location between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo.
With Reform’s redefining approach to kitchen design, the brand aims to inspire and challenge the beautiful dreams associated with that special place in our homes by offering high-end yet affordable kitchen furniture designed by internationally renowned designers and architects. Recognized names such as BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), Norm Architects, Muller van Severen, Note Design Studio and most recently, the French architect Jean Nouvel, are on the list.
Flagship showroom to kickstart the U.S. expansion
The new flagship is the largest showroom investment Reform has made in its eight years of existence, which is no coincidence. Reform is embarking on a major venture into the U.S. market and is hoping the flagship showroom in Dumbo will help pave the way.
“We are very delighted to finally be able to introduce the Reform flagship showroom to the citizens of New York,” said Jeppe Christensen, CEO & founder of Reform. “We have great ambitions for Reform in the U.S. market, so this investment is only the beginning of a new chapter for our brand. By opening this beautiful space in this spectacular location, we aim to create awareness around our distinctive kitchen designs and hope it will help us get easier access to the rest of the U.S. What we want is basically to make high-quality kitchen design available to the average U.S. consumer.”
With the new flagship, Reform now runs 12 showrooms across Denmark, Germany and the United States. In addition to the Dumbo flagship showroom, Reform also operates a showroom in Santa Monica, California. Three more showroom openings are already scheduled in the U.S. by the end of 2022 and in the beginning of 2023 — downtown Los Angeles being the first followed by Philadelphia and New Jersey.
The U.S. expansion is financed by a recent 25 million Euro investment from the Paris-based growth capital fund Experienced Capital (ECP).
Designed in collaboration with Norm Architects
The new flagship showroom has been in the making for two years and is created in collaboration with the Danish design and architecture studio Norm Architects, known for a rational, consistent and yet soft approach to design and architecture by putting the human in the center of the experience. With these values in common, Reform approached Norm, which already has two kitchen designs, Surface and Profile, featured in the Reform collection, to create a plan connecting the need of showing an extensive collection of products with a subtle architectural expression.
“We have tried to create a calm yet grand architectural background which lets each kitchen’s high level of detail and materiality stand out,” said Katrine Goldstein, managing director & partner at Norm Architects.
Reform later built on the design foundation from Norm Architects and finalized the project with its in-house architecture and interior team to implement Reform’s signature style.