Foremost Groups using variety of methods to grow their wholesale market

BY MARY JO MARTIN
Editorial director

What started in 1987 as a small trading company in New Jersey has grown into today’s Foremost Groups — a global company with four distinct divisions and numerous facilities throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Founder Joe Chen continues today as owner and chairman.

Foremost originally imported bath products including vitreous china and ready-to-assemble bathroom furniture. “You’d be surprised at how many people have private labeled products in their homes and don’t know that we actually manufactured them,” said Dave Bruce, executive vice president.

Chen has strategically guided the company through its deliberate and steady growth. He first established a customer base in the eastern half of the U.S. that was serviced from Foremost’s original distribution center in East Hanover, N.J., before expanding the sales and marketing teams and adding new locations. But the company’s philosophy goes beyond just “brick and mortar.”

“As we’ve grown, we have not lost our vision of what makes companies successful and that is to serve the customer,” Chen said. “In today’s environment, and as technology advances, this becomes even more critical. We have created a localized approach in North America by having ‘feet on the ground’ within the local markets.

Today’s Foremost has four distribution centers in North America — East Hanover, N.J., Woodland, Calif., Hobart, Ind., and Mississauga, Ont., as well as a domestic production facility for cabinetry in New Jersey and a new shower door manufacturing facility in Indiana.

The company’s recently opened Hobart facility is a particular source of pride. “Shower Enclosures is a new product line for Foremost and is an ideal extension of our bath business beyond our current cabinet, toilet seat and fixture categories,” said Bruce. “Additionally, this facility will serve as our Midwest distribution center for our wholesale and decorative showroom/dealer business. The building is 50,000 square feet and also features a showroom display area that showcases all of our wholesale/decorative showroom product lines. There is also a dedicated wholesale customer service team based there.

“Being situated in northwest Indiana gives us excellent access to the entire Midwest-market customer base. We are ideally located just minutes from the I-80 East/West corridor allowing for quick and easy shipping. We feel we can now be a strong competitor in this market by being more strategically located.”

With its strategically located distribution facilities, Foremost is able to effectively service customers across North America. Early next year the company will implement a bar code scanning system in these North American distribution centers. Foremost is confident this new system will lead to much greater efficiency and speed in regards to shipping and receiving, as well as greater accuracy of inventory levels and order status.

“This will translate into a higher level of service for all our customers,” said executive vice president Bob Kermelewicz.

Foremost wanted to take its expertise in the decorative bath business and create its own brands that are exclusive to the wholesale market.

“We have created two brands for the plumbing wholesale and showroom channels,” noted executive vice president Peter Riley. “The new lines are SOMA decorative bath cabinetry line and our CONTRAC vitreous china fixture program. We have also set up a customer service department dedicated exclusively to our wholesale customers. This department is based in our new Indiana facility and will serve all our wholesale customers throughout the U.S. They handle all customer service requests including order status, shipping details, replacement parts needs and more. In Canada, our Mississauga office will continue to service the needs of our Canadian wholesale customers. This is just one example of our dedication to serving local markets and meeting their specific needs.”

Riley further commented that Foremost is excited by the opportunity to grow and bring its services, products and brands to the wholesale and bath boutique channel: “After five years of providing Contrac in the Canadian market, we have demonstrated that we are a reliable supplier who will stand behind our products.”

Over the years, Foremost has focused on creating new products that will appeal to customers and changing market needs and trends. Its focus on High Efficiency Toilets (HET) is a perfect example of how Foremost strives to save water without sacrificing performance. “Without performance, a toilet will not satisfy the plumber or the contractor and ultimately the consumer,” said Bruce. “Foremost will not sell any product that does not meet our high quality standard.

“Creating new product is the life blood of any company. In today’s environment, it needs to be done quicker than ever. As a company, we have recognized the need for ideas and development to be brought to the attention of our customers and consumers quickly.”

Bruce added that Foremost will continue to focus on what is important to its customers and understanding what the marketplace needs when it comes to product development.

“We also understand that marketing strategies and product development must cater to specific countries, regions and customer markets,” Bruce emphasized. “We have been, and still are, a very flexible organization in that regard.

“We are also very proud of our efforts to proactively be part of today’s ‘green’ movement when it comes to our manufacturing and our product offerings. Our factory in China is one of the largest in the world to be FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified as well as PEFC certified (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). The FSC chain of custody tracks FSC-certified material through the production process — from the forest to the consumer including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution.

“The PEFC Council is an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that assures that wood comes from forests that are sustainably managed.

“Additionally, we are Rain Forest Alliance certified and all our wood products and wood toilet seats now meet the most recent C.A.R.B. (California Air Resource Board) Phase II requirements for low urea-formaldehyde emissions. This makes every wood seat we manufacture a ‘green’ toilet seat. Even our packaging and our marketing materials are eco-friendly. We use recyclable non-bleached cardboard, and we are in constant pursuit of new, innovative materials and packaging that will reduce our waste and limit the use of virgin materials even more.”

Foremost’s leadership believes strongly in reinvesting back into the company and its people as a means of facilitating growth. “We are investing in technology to bring a new level of service and value to our customers, suppliers and end-user consumers,” Bruce said. “We are currently growing our Web-based presence and soon will be investing in more automation that will create an ‘ease of use’ environment for our customers. The company is continually expanding its presence through electronic social media – Twitter, Facebook — as we have a real understanding as to how the new generation of customers researches the companies they potentially purchase from.

“We are working hard to no longer be ‘the best company you’ve never heard of.’”

For additional information, visit www.foremostgroups.com.