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INTERVIEW Mayan Metzler German Kitchen Center I expert
A Better Kitchen, A Better Life
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ayan Metzler is an Israeli-born entrepreneur who moved to New York after completing his IDF service. In the year 2000, he started a full-service remodeling business called My Home, where he acquired a great deal of knowledge and experience in the home renovation business. Along the way, Mayan came across the Leicht brand—the world’s #1 kitchen brand from Germany— and was so impressed with their products that he began distributing for them. He opened the first Leicht store in America, on the Upper West Side, in the summer of 2011. After partnering with another world leading brand, Nobilia, in 2012, Mayan founded
German Kitchen Center: a national chain that markets only high-end European brand kitchens, the first of its kind in the US. What fresh concept does German Kitchen Center offer the American market? If you were in the market for a kitchen, you basically had two options: the large national chains like Home Center, Home Depot, Lowe’s or IKEA; or showrooms for high-end Italian and German brands. There was nothing in between. We are the first company to offer more than one German kitchen brand at various price points. It’s the best of both worlds: the efficiency, reliability and price flexibility of a large business together with the quality and breathtaking design of top brands you won’t find in
mass-market chain stores. And the fact that we’re a national kitchen chain means that our clients do not face the risks involved in working with smaller operations. Which brands do you work with? We currently offer products from eight to ten brands, each a world leader in its line. This February, we’re launching our new partnership with Team 7—an Austrian brand that specializes in solid wood furniture. Your first store opened on the Upper West Side, but now you’re a national chain. Where else are your located? Our beautiful flagship store on the Upper West Side still exists, but we now have more than a dozen showrooms all across the