Home Safety Services spreads out

BURLINGAME, Calif. - Home Safety Services, a provider of home modification services, recently traded in its 3,000-square-foot facility in Foster City for a 5,000-square-foot showroom in Burlingame.

“It's something we've been talking about for many years and, as far as I know, it's the only one in Northern California,” said Tim Stevens, director of business development.

Founded in 1997, Home Safety Services has served more than 7,000 Bay Area clients, offering a wide range of products including, ramps, railings, grab bars, poles, stair lifts, walk-in showers and tubs, and toilet lifts, all of which are installed by the company.

The showroom not only features these products and more, but also serves as a training facility.

“We do quite a bit of outreach to professionals and the comment that always came back was, 'Well, it would be nice if we could show our clients these products and solutions prior to installation so they can get a feel for what's going to take place,'” Stevens.

The extra space is must when you consider that 20 years ago, there was only one standard grab bar, says Stevens, and now all products come in different sizes, colors and textures. But that's not the only thing that's changed.

“We're starting to see more buy-in from the medical community,” he said. “If the medical system can keep the patient safely at home it saves the entire system. If someone falls, that can run between $50,000 to $100,000 to rehab in a skilled nursing facility, but if you install certain home modifications, that can drastically reduce that figure by a large percentage point.”

For providers looking to create a home modification showroom of their own, Jim Greatorex, vice president of Accessible Home Improvement of America, a division of the VGM Group, says you'll need at least 1,200-square-feet to do the job right.

“The one thing about home access products is that they're big and they take up a lot of space,” he said. “If all you have is a corner, they'll have to be piled on top of each other to have any variety at all, so you have to commit to a reasonable amount of space to be an effective display.”