People On The Move

Moen® Inc. promoted Mark Loeper (pictured) to vice president and general manager of Creative Specialties International®, a manufacturer of decorative bath accessories and innovative bath safety products. Previously, he was vice president sales, retail, at Moen.

Hansgrohe North America announced that Al DeGenova has joined the company in the newly created position of director of marketing. Most recently, DeGenova was with Grohe America for nearly 18 years.

Coastal Industries hired Patrick Cobb as regional sales manager for the mid-Atlantic region, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. He succeeds Matt Ritchie, who will now serve as sales manager for the company’s manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries.

MJSI hired Tony Maranto for the newly created position of domestic sales manager. Maranto previously served as the manager of corporate marketing for T.C.B. Entertainment. Prior to that, he worked for Simpson Electric, J & S Lehman Builders and Paddock Publications. MJSI makes the HydroClean™ water fill valve.

T&S Brass and Bronze Works promoted Ken Gallagher to vice president of sales. Gallagher joined T&S Brass in 2000 and has previously served in positions including marketing product manager, marketing manager and most recently, director of sales.

ARD Plumbing , a Miami-based manufacturers rep firm that distributes Franke sinks, faucets and disposers and represents Kindred sinks, Santec Faucets and Decolav bathroom furniture and accessories, hired Tom Love as Northeast territory manager. He will call on wholesalers and showrooms from Jacksonville to Vero Beach, FL. Previously, he worked as a regional sales manager for St. Thomas Creations and most recently was an independent rep. ARD Plumbing is a division of ARD Distributors, which distributes luxury appliances, gas grills, coffee systems and plumbing products from three warehouses in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville, FL.

LDR Industries hired James R. Manwaring as vice president, sales and marketing. Prior to joining LDR, Manwaring served as senior vice president, North American commercial sales for General Binding Corp., an office products manufacturer.

LDR also named George A. Rutkowski as director of marketing. He has more than 10 years of residential plumbing products experience, most recently as vice president of marketing for B&K Industries.

Prier Products named Bob Beilfuss director of manufacturing. He is returning to Prier after five years as manufacturing manager for Black and Decker. He is also responsible for plant safety and all manufacturing operations. 

Prier also hired Steve Berry, P.E., as research, development & engineering manager. He has more than 20 years of engineering experience in the design and management of plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems. Most recently Berry was president and managing partner of a local consulting engineering firm.

Companies Making News

InSinkErator and Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors (PHCC) Educational Foundation broke another fundraising record in 2006 by raising $125,000 for the Foundation’s “Invest in Your Future” Annual Giving Campaign. Proceeds benefit the PHCC Educational Foundation and the PHCC National Auxiliary’s Scholarship Program.

InSinkErator, a division of Emerson, provides a one-third matching gift for each individual contribution to the fundraiser. 

Pictured, L to R: Ike Casey, PHCC executive vice president; Jim Driscoll, PHCC Educational Foundation chairman; Linda Bienvenu, PHCC National Auxiliary president; Jo Wagner, PHCC National president, Dennis Broderick, InSinkErator vice president of sales; Gerry Kennedy, PHCC Educational Foundation COO.

Kleber & Associates (K&A), an Atlanta-based marketing and communications agency that represents companies including Mr. Steam, KWC America, KOMA Trim Products and Coastal Industries, celebrates 20 years in home channel marketing and communications in 2007.

VitrA announced that its Istanbul bathroom collection, created by Ross Lovegrove and which will become available in the United States in May 2007, is one of the winners of the 2006 Good Design award. This year’s award winners were announced by the Museum of Architecture and Design in Chicago and presented to the finest designers and manufacturers in the world.

The Istanbul collection offers ceramic plumbing fixtures, ceramic wall and floor tiles, bathtubs, bathroom furniture, faucets and accessories.

BPI (Brown’s Partsmaster, Inc.) celebrates 20 years of stocking and supplying parts for plumbing, engineering, and building maintenance professionals as of January 2007. BPI supplies new, old and obsolete parts for the repair and maintenance of hospitals, casinos and resorts, hotels, prisons, schools and municipalities.

Fixture Universe is a Web site created in 1999 by professionals with experience in sales, manufacturing, distribution and design. It offers everything from plumbing products for the home to commercial use plumbing products, plus decorative products.

Cole & Co., a Dallas-based manufacturer of bathroom cabinetry, furniture and accessories, completed an agreement with Hooker Furniture Corp. to hold the exclusive rights to distribute Hooker Furniture’s product line to the kitchen and bath industry in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico through Cole's network of showrooms and authorized dealers. The products include bathroom vanities, case goods, upholstered goods, accessories and cabinets. 

Dornbracht said it received top honors from Interior Design magazines with Best of the Year (BOY) product awards for both kitchen and bath plumbing/fixtures. The sculptural two-hole Maro was tapped as best in kitchen products and TARA.Logic was named best in bath products.

Also, the Chicago Athenaeum recognized Maro and TARA.Logic with its Good Design Award, which honors outstanding product design in 19 categories.

In-O-Vate Technologies, the manufacturer of the Dryerbox and the Dryer-ell, have recently been notified that both products have been “GreenSpec” listed and designated a “Green Product” with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building credits.

The Dryerbox is a simple UL-classified metal receptacle that collects the flex exhaust hose neatly and safely behind the dryer. The Dryer-Ell is a re-engineered metal dryer exhaust fitting that exhibits a larger radius and a smooth interior, providing a net gain of about 4.8 feet in allowable duct length when used as a replacement to the standard 4-inch ell currently used in the dryer venting trade.

New Showrooms

Ferguson (Newport News, VA) said it would open a 12,000-sq.-ft. showroom in Honolulu in February at 925 Kokea Street. It will feature fully functional displays for appliances, designer lighting, plumbing fixtures and bath accessories. The showroom was designed with plumbers, builders, remodelers and designers in mind.

“From the moment they walk in the door, we want to provide our customers with a truly spectacular experience,” said Rodrigo Galdino, Honolulu showroom manager.

This 'n That

MJSI Inc., manufacturer of the HydroClean™ toilet valve, recently visited editors of the BNP Media plumbing magazines. Pictured, back row, left to right: Rich Katzmann, vice president, marketing & sales, MJSI; Jim Camillo, editor, PM Engineer; Steve Smith, editor, Plumbing & Mechanical; and Michael Schuster, president, MJSI. Front row: Pat Lenius, managing editor, Supply House Times (left) and Marlena Cannon, director of integrated marketing, MJSI.

According to Moen, oil-rubbed bronze is a hot finish for the bath. The company said its sales reflect a 328% increase in that finish. Another winning finish in the bath is wrought iron, which has jumped 18%.

Finishes that are losing their luster include: polished brass in the kitchen, down 75%; polished brass in the bath, down 65%; and glacier in the kitchen, down 20%.

Kohler Co. reports that the overall global color trend for the kitchen and bath is about creating environments with rich texture and depth. However, this is visual, not tactile texture.

“The new trend is the ‘color’ that comes from combining different materials — stone, tile, wood, cast iron — and different finishes on countertops, walls, floors and cabinets,” said Laura Roenitz, senior market analyst, Kitchen and Artist Editions, Kohler Co.

Product Development

American Standard offers One™, a new faucet collection with minimalist styling that includes vessel faucets, single-control or two-handle widespread faucet for lavatories, wall-mounted fittings, showerhead, bath and shower faucet, deck-mount tub filler and bidet faucets. It is available in polished chrome or satin nickel finish.

Danze unveiled a double head showerhead that has two pivoting spray heads, each with an adjustable spray pattern, for a customized shower experience. It fits on an existing shower arm and is available in brushed nickel, chrome and polished brass.

T&S Brass offers the B-2710 lavatory single-lever faucet with pop-up drain. It comes with a tamper-resistant handle (removable only with a hex key), ceramic cartridge and adjustable temperature limit stops.

JADO’s new IQ™ series for the bath and kitchen redefines minimalism with an elegant sense of geometry, according to the company. Designed by Matteo Thun, former creative director for Swatch and a co-founding member of the Memphis Design Group, the series includes faucets for both the kitchen and bath and accessories.

•  Lifelike 3D virtual product tests.
•  Understanding purchasing intent.
•  Ad concept testing.
•  Customer satisfaction.

THE "COLLEGE OF PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE" RETURNS!
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Supply House Times' "College of Product Knowledge" (CPK) was authored by plumbing product guru Don Arnold, who worked as a product design engineer with several leading plumbing manufacturers. It was originally launched in 1979 and ran for 30 issues, culminating in a 300+ page manual that became the industry's most widely used product education resource.

For the last several years, Don Arnold has authored periodic updates to address changes in various plumbing products since the original series ran. This new College of Product Knowledge has been republished in a CD format and contains no advertising, just 300 pages of solid information. Each product section is accompanied with detailed illustrations, as well as a quiz at the end.

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