Opening on Horizon for Attleboro Kitchen and Bath

Nearly everything is in place for Attleboro Kitchen & Bath to launch the oft-delayed grand opening of its store in downtown Attleboro. A few minor details like the cabinets have yet to be put in place, but the owners say the store is slated to open before Christmas.

If local residents are wondering when or if the 850 square-foot store will ever get off the ground, Bryan Gallagher lends several reassuring notes. "My father has had his eye on this spot for at least 10 years," says Bryan Gallagher, son of Joseph Gallagher, who founded JA Gallagher Inc., its home construction division, 35 years ago.

The company started its subsidiary- Attleboro Kitchen & Bath- more than two decades ago to specialize in designing and building custom kitchen and bath cabinetry and in remodeling projects for these much-used areas of a house. They are members of the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

"It is a work in progress and we are slowly piecing it together, but we want to get it right," Gallagher says of the opening of the store, its first. "We have ordered the lighting and that includes 18 lights for track lighting around the perimeter. We will also have a big chandelier and will have other speciality lighting that we can adjust to illuminate what people want to see."

Gallagher had to renovate the space from a botanicals store, owned by Jahada Botanicals & Company, to an attractive showroom. 

On a  maple hardwood floor and with an island in the middle, Gallagher says "20-by-48 inch landscape photos" from the last two decades will highlight their large body of work in kitchen and bathroom areas.

Also on display will be a small bathroom setup, a variety of cabinets and other items such as pull-out waste baskets, adjustable shelves, racks and examples of materials used in construction such as wood, stone, granite and tiles- all available for inspection and discussion.

The showroom will allow clients to get a real feel of what they might want and be guided from the latest technology available to designers and builders. "If you make a rough sketch we can show on a computer with 3-D software the design you want and put it to scale on a screen," Gallagher says.

Gallagher explains the design and building of kitchens and bath areas is "a huge industry" nationwide and says there are at least three big local competitors specializing in this vital aspect of home building and renovations. "Having good kitchens and bathroom areas help homes hold the most value and equity than any other parts of a house. These areas can get outdated very quickly and we can revamp or renew or even enlarge existing areas."

Introducing Attleboro Kitchen & Bath to area residents through its new store is eventually expected to have a positive effect on the local economy. "We employ many subcontractors for carpentry, plumbing, electricity, tile, heating and air conditioning, roofing and for other specialities," Gallagher says.

"Build, build, build" is the motto that Gallagher and the company lives by and they have traveled far and wide to develop a large clientele. "We do a lot of business outside the area, including Rhode Island and metro Boston so we are confident we will draw people from those areas as well as local residents to our showroom."

Gallagher expects the economy to slowly rebound, but is convinced the company has made the right move now. "We expect that in five years, or when our lease will end on the property, that the economy will be right where want it to be."

And perhaps there will be more full-time staff hired to work alongside owners Joe and Bryan Gallagher and employees Cindy Woyton and Adam Salisbury.

 Now that they finally will have a showroom, that will resolve a question often asked of them-"Do you have a showroom?" and should make that decision to renew an easy one.

"We have done much business outside the area, but we want to be homebodies now," Gallagher says of the long-time Attleboro-based company.

Editor's Note: Attleboro Kitchen & Bath's location was incorrectly stated in this article. The store is located in the Sanford Building.