In his presentation, Bing Lee CEO, Lionel Lee expressed his gratitude for the Bing Lee team and the retailer’s supplier partners, as he reflected on the decision to push into premium cooking.
“Good evening everyone and welcome to Signature Appliances. For those who don’t know me, my name is Lionel Lee and I am the son of the famous Yenda Lee. Signature Appliances is the culmination of a dream – some eight years ago, as a smallish western suburbs-based business known as Bing Lee, we dreamt a little larger, wanting to expand into the premium appliance category,” he told attendees.
“First was the opening of the standalone Miele store in Drummoyne and second was the opening of the La Cornue cooking store in Surry Hills and now Signature Appliances is the third instalment in our push towards premium cooking – our version of premium cooking without all of the attitude – read into that what you will.
“None of this would have happened without the wonderful support of all of our suppliers. Your brands provide the backbone on which we have formed our business and we always humbly acknowledge that fact. Tonight’s crowd is an eclectic bunch – our suppliers, media partners, customers, architects and designers, some friends and some hangers-on that could come to the opening of an envelope – you know who you are.
“Seriously – to those people who are new to the Bing Lee experience, thank you for giving us your time and thank you for the opportunity to bring you into what others know as the Bing Lee family. On behalf of my mum, Yenda, my wife, Lisa and my four kids who I am very proud to say all work within the business – we along with all of the Bing Lee team just say thank you.
“I am extremely proud of the Bing Lee management team in creating this opportunity that has become Signature Appliances. As we push through our 66th year as Bing Lee we are always mindful of our past – where we have come from and the sacrifices that have been made – and we will always be grateful to our suppliers and our Bing Lee team members, because simply we would not have a business without them.
“Tonight is so special – Pete and Sam, Alexis and Leo, this has been a blood, sweat and tears project. To those suppliers that support us and continue to support us – you guys are our rock and I appreciate what you do for our business. We don’t always agree, and that’s ok – but that’s what happens in a family – you have disagreements and you get together and you pull together again in one direction and that’s the most important thing. No one is more important than a collaboration between two partners.”