Milliken opens its first showroom in Continental Europe
After London, New York, Chicago, Shanghai and Beijing it is now the turn of Paris to welcome the Milliken brand of flooring
Milliken’s first showroom in continental Europe, located at 40 rue des Mathurins in the 8th district of the capital, between the Saint-Lazare station and the La Madeleine district, opened during December 2017.
The showroom is housed in a typically Parisian setting with many original architectural details from the Haussmann period such as mouldings, herringbone parquet and a winter garden room all forming a haven for the Milliken collections.
Led by Marion Bradley, Marketing Communications Manager France, the showroom is designed to provide customers with an inspiring environment.
They can view all the latest collections, touch and feel the carpets, experiment with different layouts and create floor solutions adapted to their needs thanks to the large number of available samples.
Richard Fisher, the Associate Designer at M Moser Associates responsible for the design, had this to say: “The Paris showroom is very much in keeping with the ongoing creative relationship between Milliken and M Moser. It had to feel like it was a Milliken showroom, but also reflect its local environment. The design sits very much in the space between the building and the brand; the buzz and brightness from the outside street is drawn in through vistas created in the interior space. These connect the showroom to the outside, and allow the product to feel connected to its environment.”
The biggest challenge Richard Fisher goes on to explain “was to transform a highly cellular environment into one that feels like it has a natural flow of circulation. Modular display systems throughout allow the product to make efficient use of irregular space; we took care to celebrate the original features of the building, adding character to the visitor journey around the space.”
The large central islands have been designed as real workspaces where architects and designers can work on carpet solutions for their projects.
The numerous displays present the main collections, alongside imagery showing the original design inspiration and pull-out vertical displays house the company’s latest Luxury Vinyl Tile ranges.
The floor itself is considered as an exhibition space, with each room offering a different visual experience that will evolve with the seasons as new collections are added.
Alison Kitchingman, Director of Marketing & Design at Milliken explains the thinking behind the Paris showroom opening: “Milliken has had a sales team in Paris for some years, but the showroom allows us to reinforce our proximity and connect more meaningfully with our clients in the French market.”
