Luxury appliance showroom opens on the Plaza

Roth Living picked the Country Club Plaza for its first “next generation” high-end appliance showroom.

The company took a 5,750-square-foot corner space in the Skelly Building at 601 W. 47th St., for the regional showroom that is expected to draw customers from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

The Plaza showroom, which opened Thursday, displays several kitchens with some of the latest appliance styles, including under-the-counter refrigerators and freezers, and coffee systems. Appliance prices range from $1,000 to $17,000. It also has an interactive test kitchen where customers, builders and architects can watch product demonstrations by chef Peter Castillo.

Roth’s Muse Studio is a digital workspace that helps consumers gather and save ideas. It also has an app that shoppers can use in the showroom to view product specifications and selections. Customers who have selected several appliances can see how they will look together on a 144-square-foot digital wall.

Roth Living, a division of Roth Corp., is the official supplier of Sub-Zero, Wolf, Asko and Best Hoods brands in 14 states. It also sells Wolf’s new countertop appliances — 2-slice or 4-slice toasters, blenders, and gourmet countertop ovens for roasting, baking or broiling.

It previously had a showroom at 7930 Marshall Drive in Lenexa that closed in June 2014.

“We wanted to be in an enviroment where consumers wanted to go, a location where people wanted to shop, with other like-minded brands like Tiffany, Burberry,” said Denise Manu, spokeswoman for Roth Corp. in Denver.

Other Roth showroom locations are in Denver, Salt Lake City, St. Louis and Minnetonka, Minn.

The 90,000-square-foot (circa 1922) Skelly building is owned by a local investment group. Retail tenants are Bo Lings restaurant, Panera Bread and House of Hoops by Footlocker.

Block & Co. Inc. Realtors also is in negotiations for a 3,054-square-foot space on the first floor and is working on a development plan for the 30,000-square-foot rooftop.

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Luxury appliance showroom opens on the Plaza."