New Homes
New Homes
Gender barrier-breaking home a model for homebuilders
A home designed by and for women has made it into a book -- a book that could change the way businesses engage women consumers.
"In 2003, I got a call from Shane Wenzel, senior VP of sales and marketing for Shane Homes," says author Joanne Thomas Yaccato in her book, The Gender Intelligent Retailer.
"He was interested in having me speak to his group on how to better meet the needs of women customers. He wryly observed: 'I have never sold a house just because it had a great workshop or garage.'"
Through her Toronto-based firm, the Thomas Yaccato Group, she has worked with companies around the world to help them better connect with women consumers.
She not only came to meet with Shane Homes' staff and customers in Calgary, she helped a group of women -- Shane customers and staff -- design a home.
"He (Wenzel) knew women were the major influencers of home purchases," says Thomas Yaccato.
As a result, the Shane Homes home design project was launched. "(It) was not only going to have the floor plan designed by women from start to finish, they were actually going to build the darn thing," she says.
A workshop and a series of "listening" groups over eight months with 10 Shane Homes' owners -- all women -- led to designs of several floor plans that led to the Yaccato 1 and Yaccato 2 models, which were unveiled in 2004.
Those plans went on to win both a single-family housing award and an award for innovation at the 2005 Awards of Excellence in Housing by the Canadian Home Builders' Association-Alberta.
Shane Homes continues to utilize some of the ideas in its standard plans, or offers them as options for new home buyers.
"Some of the unique features incorporated into the Yaccato 2 include even small items that are virtually unnoticeable when walking through the home, but that make life simpler and thus, more enjoyable," says Wenzel
These include such things as spacious mud rooms with storage organizers and cubbyholes, as well as a walk-through pantry that holds an upright freezer and has plenty of room to store the small appliances.
Other features include extra storage and more work space in kitchens, including a home management centre with built-in filing cabinet.
There are also awning windows that can be left open for fresh air even when it's raining, and two extra bedrooms of equal size to eliminate sibling rivalry.
--Canwest News Service
