HomePortfolio™ Boosts Retail Showrooms Online Dealer Locator Helps Consumers Find Nearest Stores with the Home Design Products They Want

Furniture World Magazine

BuildingBlocks Interactive, publisher of HomePortfolio (www.homeportfolio.com), announced the official launch of HomePortfolio's Dealer Locator service, which helps shoppers use the Internet to find the nearest retail showrooms that carry the home design products they are seeking. The HomePortfolio Dealer LocatorTM goes live today with more than 4,500 showrooms nationwide. For the first time, consumers can click on a "Where to Buy It" button in HomePortfolio's industry-leading online presentation of premium home design products. One click brings a list of the nearest showrooms that carry the brands they seek. Starting this month, shoppers will be able to find the nearest showrooms that actually display the products they have found in HomePortfolio. "With the launch of HomePortfolio's Dealer Locator service, consumers can - for the first time - find the products they want via the Internet and immediately locate the showrooms that carry them," said BuildingBlocks CEO, Rolly Rouse. Selected showrooms are listed in the HomePortfolio Dealer Locator for free. Currently, manufacturers nominate showrooms for inclusion. Retailers self-post store information using the Internet. Each showroom listing outlines the dealer's address, store telephone number, hours of operation, and a 250-word description of the showroom and its focus. "Dealer Locator is a key part of our strategy for creating an open marketplace for home design products on the Internet," said Rouse. "Home design products are not like books or CDs. Consumers want to touch and feel these products. We're making it dramatically more convenient for shoppers to find the nearest showrooms, and in the process we're helping brick-and-mortar retailers reach the right consumers." HomePortfolio is the leading Internet destination for premium home design products. The site presents an independent, editorial selection of the world's best, coupled with in-depth electronic brochures from paying manufacturers. The site currently shows thousands of products from more than 500 top manufacturers, and more than 60 paying clients provide shoppers with in-depth product information. HomePortfolio makes the process of finding and buying the right home design products dramatically more convenient. BuildingBlocks Interactive, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, is using the Internet to transform communication and commerce in the home design industry.