Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
At the Saratoga Kitchen and Bath Design Center, visitors can see how completed work looks.
Kitchen and Bath store offers fixtures-from basic to ornate
Remodel business allows customers many choices
By Leigh Ann Maze
Saratogans who want to remodel their kitchen or bathroom, or build an addition to their home, no longer have to look any further than their own backyard. Saratoga Kitchen and Bath Design Center opened its door at 14482 Big Basin Way in Saratoga Village the second weekend in June. Although still awaiting the arrival of its identifying sign, there were plenty of curious shoppers coming in to look at the new store during the weekend.
"We were packed," said Rob McCready, president of the company, which began nine years ago in San Jose. "But so many people still don't even know we're here yet."
McCready, a San Jose native, has been in the cabinetry and kitchen and bath remodeling business for 13 years. He completed an apprenticeship in Scandinavia in the 1980s. He now lives in Cupertino.
McCready said his store handles projects from idea to completion, whether the customer has simple and modest tastes, or wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an extravagant kitchen remodeling project.
McCready and some members of his crew of more than 60 employees and contractors have worked for eight months to completely remodel the interior and face of the old restaurant building in the Village into a brand new showroom.
The inside of the store is covered from floor to ceiling in display after display of what McCready and his workers can do. McCready said that all of his employees and materials suppliers are local.
The floor of the historic building, which is more than 100 years old, has been re-tiled in ivory-colored limestone and marble. Examples of the many kitchen and bath designs and appliances available are on display. Custom-made cabinets, which are built at the company's headquarters in San Jose, are displayed in cherry, hickory, maple and oak, among other beautifully lacquered woods. McCready said he carries well over 100 different styles of custom-made cabinets alone.
There are entire kitchens set up in the shop, complete with a refrigerator and a fake pie cooling on the tiled counter. In one corner is a large, tiled shower stall with beautiful plumbing fixtures and in another corner stands a large, white bathtub. There are examples of countertops and tiles in every material, color and style.
Customers can come in and browse the showroom and select what they want in their home.
McCready said that they decided to open the showroom in Saratoga because the bulk of their work is in the Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno area.
"We think this location will be convenient for our customers," McCready said, adding that a large portion of his clients live within six miles of Saratoga Village. "This location is also much more beautiful," he said.
McCready has moved his office from the San Jose location to the new Saratoga showroom, complete with a new custom-made desk.
Before McCready opened the Saratoga showroom, customers would have to drive to San Jose to choose the materials for their remodel, or McCready would come to the customer, as he still often does.
In the more than 2,000 projects Saratoga Kitchen and Bath Design has completed during its many years in business, McCready said he has done, "everything running the gauntlet from basic straight forward to ornate, custom and high end."
McCready said he is on a long-term lease with the landlord.
"We plan to be here for along time."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
