The coronavirus pandemic shut down trade showrooms across the country for months on end, putting a pause on in-person sales. As brands slowly reopen for business, have businesses that once swore by showroom sales changed their tune?

In recent years, the showroom model has come under fire from trade brands and designers alike. Companies say design center traffic is declining as operating costs increase; designers often find they can supplement fewer trips to showrooms with digital tools. Still, few have been willing to stake their success on exiting from a tried-and-true industry formula. But in many ways, COVID-19 provided a trial run: two to three months of shuttered showrooms.

Like many industries that traditionally believed having employees in the office was key to success, trade brands have discovered their ability to work effectively following showroom shutdowns. “Remote work is a model we haven’t tested in the 72 years since Kneedler Fauchère first opened our doors, and frankly, it’s a model I never believed 
would work,” says Gina DeWitt, president of Kneedler Fauchère showrooms. But like legions of employees across the country, DeWitt’s teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver adapted quickly, as did the multiline showroom’s suppliers and designer clients. Against all odds, business kept moving forward.

There was a widespread sense of shock and relief as trade businesses successfully pivoted from meetings to videoconferences. “We have built our business in the past five years around our showrooms, operating around the principle that meeting in person was critical, as textiles and rugs are hard to determine through digital assets,” says Catherine Connolly, the CEO of Merida. “I have been surprised by the nimbleness of the designers as they have shifted their businesses. It seems to be going well—and, in some ways, better.” Now, many industry leaders have begun to reassess the value of their real estate holdings across the country. In a post-COVID era, do showrooms still matter? The answer may surprise you.