Interview with Anthony Stubbs, Swede Founder.
Words by Michelle Heslop. Photos by Jody Beck, Alex Jardine, and Kristin Korch.
Tell us a little bit about Swede. Swede is a modern retail experience that provides clients with a bespoke, locally-made kitchen. We take a collaborative approach with the interior design community, local cabinet shops and contractors to streamline and simplify the process of designing and building a custom kitchen.
Give us a brief on how and when the Swede idea was hatched? After operating a kitchen store in Victoria for several years, it became clear to me that the kitchen renovation experience was incredibly fragmented. I saw our clients running around town to various retail vendors attempting to piece together their vision. Without a holistic plan, our clients were making random and often uneducated decisions leading to unnecessary added costs. I knew there was a better way to tie this process together to ensure homeowners get the results they desire without this arduous planning experience. Swede opened its doors in Victoria, April of 2020. Those were some wild times at the start of the pandemic!
Swede is a catchy name. Tell us a little more about the name. The meaning behind Swede has definitely evolved over time. Today, we like to think that it conjures up a Scandinavian style ethos – modern, design-driven and simple – the same elements we want our kitchens to embody.
Walk us through the process at Swede.The Swede experience has three main parts:
Where are the cabinets manufactured? We’re proud to say that Swede supports local cabinet manufacturing within each city we operate in. For example, if you purchase a Swede kitchen from Victoria, it will be cut and assembled right here in Victoria. We follow the same process in Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto. Where possible, our products are procured directly from the brands themselves, bypassing physical retailers.
What are the benefits of hiring Swede for a kitchen renovation or a new custom kitchen? A beautiful and functional outcome is always the result of a successful planning process. That’s where we shine. Our design experience is powered by talented designers and access to high-quality products and materials that results in a clear, comprehensive design plan for your space. We aim to streamline the process for a stress-free approach and the best results possible.
Do you design/build/install any other features beyond kitchens? While kitchens are our primary product, we’ve evolved into providing a full home solution. Our new build projects usually include most rooms in the house in order to provide a cohesive aesthetic.
Swede is rapidly expanding. Can customers on the West Coast access designers from other parts of the country and vice versa? Our growth and national expansion has enabled us to unlock a host of benefits for our clients. The calibre of design studios that we are now attracting to our community is allowing our clients to work with top designers across the country, from anywhere. As our project volume grows, our manufacturing partners are able to invest in efficiencies and see stability through working with Swede. It’s been exciting to witness how a collaborative and community approach has created so much value for everyone. We are passionate about supporting businesses locally and our approach has fostered a win-win situation.
What is your proudest achievement with the company so far? Without question, it’s the entrepreneurial creatives and makers that Swede supports. We are helping to connect small independent operators, committed to their craft with homeowners across Canada. I’ve always had a passion for supporting small businesses, so I don’t know what could be more rewarding than that.
Where do you envision Swede to be 5 years from now? One of our guiding principles is to ‘make it scalable.’ We believe that if we can develop an amazing experience to plan a locally-made kitchen, we want as many people to have that same quality experience. And the more we grow, the more independent creatives and makers we can also support. If we have it our way, we’d love to build these communities and support this experience within each major city and their surrounding regions in Canada and the US in the next five years.
