A local Google search for “specialty kitchen items” returns almost 30 million results. Springfield-based Everything Kitchen LLC tops the list.
Founder and CEO Emily Church expects nothing less – topping the list either via search results or a paid advertisement. It’s that front-and-center expectation that has carried her company to steady growth and success in the e-commerce industry, with projected 2013 revenue of $16 million.
Of her 25 paid staff, six full-time employees work on programming, product entry and database maintenance. They make sure that all the informational fields across Everything Kitchens’ expansive website align, which improves the sites’ ranking across search engine return pages, and in turn, directs more kitchen gadget shoppers to EverythingKitchens.com.
Many shoppers click the link, browse and then buy. So many, in fact, that since starting Everything Kitchens in 2002 to be a stay-at-home mom, Church has moved from shipping merchandise out of her home to commercial warehouse space and the opening of a retail site. The Springfield showroom, 2750 S. Glenstone Ave., now accounts for about five percent of the company’s yearly revenue.
“Lots of companies sell off of price, or they sell off of service,” she says. “We try to do both – we’re a specialty shop, we know our product, our people are knowledgeable and well-trained, yet we have enough volume to compete on price as well.”
And the name Everything Kitchens is no exaggeration. With thousands of products across 135 manufacturer brands, the site is a compendium of all things cooking, including food processors, convection ovens, deep-fryers, kitchenware, cutlery, baking items and specialty appliances such as tortilla-makers, fondue pots and snow cone machines.
EverythingKitchens.com is currently undergoing a $300,000 upgrade and conversion, tentatively scheduled to launch May 20. Church says it’s a complicated and challenging process, but one that represents an investment with future dividends, including increased operational efficiency, scalability for future expansion and a streamlined Web experience for customers.
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