New home supply store offers hands-on experience

COSTA MESA — Fixtures Living, a home supply store for the kitchen, bath and outdoors, will “change everything” with the opening of a flagship store in the South Coast Collection shopping center, a store spokeswoman said.

The more than 20,000-square-foot store set to open Sept. 10 at the shopping center on Hyland Avenue in Costa Mesa will revolutionize the industry for both shoppers and manufactures, said Maria Swanson, director of marketing for the San Diego-based company.

“The big thing for us, what’s in our DNA, is that we believe that everyone is treated with respect and equality,” Swanson said. “Whether they’re coming to buy a faucet or remodel a 20,000-square-foot house, everyone is treated the same.”

Treating customers well is something that has been missing from the appliance and decorative plumbing industry, said Vice President of Sales Tom Cavallo.

“In our specific world, there’s nobody doing what we’re doing in terms of creating an experience in a showroom,” he said.

Knowledgeable staff and hands-on appliance and plumbing displays allow customers to “feel safe in a place where, when they leave, they’re talking about the experience as much as the products.”

In the store’s showroom, customers will be able to turn on, test and compare everything from ovens to faucets.

Even shower heads will pump out water at the flick of a switch — something that no other area home supply store does, Swanson said.

An enclosed “spa sanctuary” with 33 different types of shower heads, including ceiling-mounted, wall-mounted and free-standing, will allow a customer to test things like water pressure.

In addition to water conservation — the water used by the shower heads and faucets is filtered and recycled — the entire store is undergoing the process for Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification, Swanson said.

The store has 23 employees, 19 of whom are new hires, and will be led by General Manager Chris Arnold.

Fixtures Living plans to expand to other cities outside of Orange County in the next few months.