Portland-based luxury architectural hardware, plumbing, and lighting company, Chown Hardware, recently unveiled a new showroom in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, a rising design district just south of Downtown.
Launched in July 2020, the third showroom for the fifth-generation family business showcases Chown’s extensive product offerings through bright, minimalist interiors and a flexible layout. Imagined by Portland design firm and long-time Chown customers, Weedman Design Partners, the showroom is as detail-oriented as its clients.
“We wanted to hire our customers to build the showroom,” says Chown’s Brand & Marketing Manager Nathanael Chown. “We didn’t want to just anticipate what they needed, we wanted them to have the power to make those decisions for it. This space is almost an homage to them.”
Visitors enter the two-story showroom to an arresting vignette from the company’s flagship line, Waterworks. Complete with a full kitchen and bathroom set-up, the vignette shows off Chown’s exclusive line with the high-end design brand.
Adjacent to the front door is a new handwashing station with Waterworks faucets, assuring precautionary measures in light of COVID-19. As a family business rooted in attentive, face-to-face customer service, Chown upholds its core value while keeping customer safety top of mind.
Paying tribute to Chown’s matriarch Eleanor Chown—who, in 1971, introduced the Pacific Northwest to high-end hardware retailers and catapulted the family business into the luxury market—the Seattle showroom features a subtle mural with a photo of her, her husband Frank, and their three children. “You can stand in the middle of the showroom and say it’s a culmination of her design from the mid-century.
She would be really proud,” says Chown. “It lets her vision and design have its moment. That’s a really special thing for me and a very important capstone for the growth on this side of the business.”
As visitors travel through the space, clean white walls and natural wood flooring bring Chown’s curated lighting, bathroom, and kitchen fixtures to the center of attention. The design team also elevates the in-person shopping experience with usable kitchen and bathroom vignettes with running water. Upstairs, a glass-paneled mezzanine showcases bathtubs and showers with chroma therapy and steam features.
In addition to the hundreds of products displayed on the showroom floor, Weedman Design Partners outfitted the space with Chown products wherever possible. From Visual Comfort and Sonneman light fixtures overhead to the Waterworks-themed bathroom, customers can experience Chown’s diverse product lines at work.
Additionally, large tables and seating areas scattered throughout the showroom encourage architects and designers to work collaboratively with their clients. The space also has modular, removable walls for clients to compare products and for Chown to make seamless transitions as new products come in. “We wanted to create as much flexibility in the showroom as possible,” says Arielle Weedman, who co-owns Weedman Design Partners with her husband Travis. “A lot is going to change [over the years] and we want it to change.”
Located at 2920 1st Ave S Seattle, WA 98134, the Chown Seattle Showroom is now open.
ABOUT CHOWN HARDWARE
Chown Hardware is the oldest family-owned and operated architectural hardware, plumbing, and lighting company in North America. Founded in 1879, the fifth-generation business has more than 70 brands in its oeuvre, with exclusive lines with industry giants like Waterworks, Fantini, and Vola. Chown opened its first Portland showroom 1971, and now has additional showrooms in Bellevue and Seattle. In light of new health precautions, Chown is offering phone and virtual appointments for those unable to visit their showrooms in
person. Follow @chownhardware and visit https://www.chown.com/seattle-showroom/ to learn more.
