Gulfstream: No business like showroom business
Show time for Gulfstream. Its new showroom has opened “to surprise and delight customers” in Mayfair, London.
When you step out of the lift of Gulfstream’s newly refurbished showroom in London’s Mayfair, the first thing you see are two partial cabins: one for a Gulfstream 400 on the right and two zones of a G700/G800 on the left.
“If you ever watched someone check in for a flight with six or seven big black suitcases, there was a very good chance they were an aircraft designer,” says Mike Swift, group vice president of sales for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Gulfstream.
“We will of course still do this, but now we also have showrooms in New York, Beverly Hills and London to let owners try out different seats, touch fabric and view different cabin options.”
Some customers will have meetings in all three showrooms. It is not rare for a buyer to have a first meeting in Manhattan and then another one six weeks later in London. Their dedicated Gulfstream designer will fly over. All three showrooms have a similar theme but are slightly different. “They are siblings rather than twins,” says Tray Crow, Gulfstream’s director of interior design.
The showroom has other areas where buyers can view cabin layouts or change colours on a huge screen and a room where you can choose from thousands of fabrics, veneers, leathers and finishes. “We do keep things packed away to make sure it is not an overwhelming experience,” says Michael Bryden, senior principal designer, who is based in the showroom (but will also travel with six bags if needed).
Many of the fabrics in the showroom are sourced from aircraft. Carpets are the same as on aircraft, the leather walls are the same as on cabins and the ceiling of the meeting room has wool fabric to reduce noise.
Hawker Beechcraft experimented with the concept, opening a showroom in Claridge’s Hotel (which is close to Gulfstream) – but Gulfstream has taken it further. Swift says the London office regularly hosts buyers from around the world. “The people who buy Gulfstreams have family offices in London, have businesses listed in London and like visiting London. It is a strategic location.”
The manufacturer says the showroom is used both for prospects and to help owners who have already signed contracts. “We want to make the process of buying an aircraft fun and enjoyable,” says Crow. “Our job is to surprise and delight customers.”
Gulfstream’s showroom is close to Steve Varsano’s showroom – known to millions of TikTokers. But it is more discreet. Varsano’s showroom is on the ground floor on Park Lane.
“We want to make the experience of buying as experiential as possible,” says Swift.
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