The Wholesaler Blog

ValvTechnologies recently closed on the purchase of a warehouse on adjacent property for an undisclosed amount. Since moving to the current location in 1987, ValvTechnologies has continually expanded its facilities to keep up with the company’s growth. The space, formally owned by a printing and supply company, includes offices and over 20,000 square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space. With this new addition, the total Houston manufacturing facilities now owned by ValvTechnologies exceeds 125,000 square feet on over 20 acres of land.

Employees gathered recently at the new facility for a grand opening and employee appreciation party. The party, which featured a luau theme, was a way to showcase the facility and thank employees for all their hard work over the past year. Plans for use of the space are still in development.

Between 1992 and 1997, two buildings were constructed on the current ValvTechnologies land to allow for expanded manufacturing space. In 1999, the new corporate office was built, featuring two floors of office space and production space for low pressure valve assembly, welding and machining departments. All engineering, design and manufacturing occurs at the Houston corporate office. In 2006, an additional 17 acres, dubbed Railhead, was purchased near the current facility which now houses the ValvTechnologies Specialty Division (VTIS) and a new research and development facility with 10,000 square feet of dedicated space.

ValvTechnologies, headquartered in Houston, Texas, has been in business since 1987 and employs nearly 500 worldwide. Corporate offices are located in the United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, China, the Middle East and South America. Manufacturer representatives can be found worldwide. To find out more about the products or services offered or to locate a representative, visit www.valv.com.

Danze Inc. will serve as the official faucet and plumbing fixture partner of The House Designers’ first-ever Energy Star-approved house plans. This exclusive set of green house plans encourages consumers and builders to build eco-friendly, energy efficient homes and include all the necessary tools to build a green home, including information on green building products and practices.

The collection of house plans will include several water-saving and sustainable solutions from Danze such as:

• Water-saving lavatory faucets offer 30+% savings in water over traditional faucets, operate at 1.5 gallons per minute and meet California and Vermont low-lead legislation requirements.

• High efficiency toilets are another impactful way to reduce water usage in the home. These toilets operate at 1.28 gallons per flush and can reduce water consumption by more than 20% per toilet.

• FSC-certified bath furniture, including several bath vanities, mirrors and other wood-based products, is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes sustainable forestry.

• Water-saving, WaterSense labeled showerheads include high-performing options that flow at 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 gallons per minute.

The House Designers/Energy Star Green Home Plans are available exclusively online at www.thehousedesigners.com/greenhouseplans or visit www.danze.com.

This week, Northeastern Supply opened its 33rd location with the acquisition of Standard Supply and Equipment, located at 501 E Main St.; Front Royal, VA 22630.

“Standard Supply has been a strong player in the residential plumbing and well and pump market. We will continue to serve those markets well, along with offering HVAC and commercial plumbing products,” said Steve Cook, Northeastern’s president & CEO.

The Front Royal location will make Northeastern even stronger along the I-81 corridor and complement its current locations. Former owner Gary Hickerson will continue to work with Northeastern to help provide a smooth transition and new services/products to customers.  His stepfather, Kirk Stratton, started the family company in 1953 and Gary assumed ownership of Standard Supply in 1992.

“I needed to make sure my customers would have the experts they needed to help them, and rural plumbing is vastly different from city water,” Hickerson noted. “Rural plumbing deals with private wells, gray water, septic tanks and disposal systems with no municipal sewering. I have seen and am convinced that Northeastern Supply’s people know rural plumbing and will provide service to our customers. They are familiar with the needs of customers west of Blue Ridge, and I am comfortable that Northeastern will take care of the relationships we have built here for more than half-a-century.”

Twenty-year Standard Supply veteran Diane Pence will remain on board along with John Ramey, who is now the branch manager and who has been in the industry since 1979.  “Standard Supply has been customer friendly and known as the ‘Good old store in town’ that everyone knows and goes to,” Ramey said. “Northeastern will keep that customer friendliness, but add much more to the menu. They bring a wider variety of products,  and the ability to make a call and get any product needed quickly and efficiently.”

Visit www.northeastern.com or call Ramey at the Front Royal, Va., location at 540-635-4547.

Mitch Harper, former distribution executive and Industrial Distribution program lecturer at Texas A&M and Baylor University, answers the number one question (according to recent industry study) on the minds of wholesale industry managers… “How do we motivate our sales staff?”  Sponsored by Global Stainless Supply/Forgings Flanges & Fittings.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Through August 31, 2010, Rinnai America Corporation is offering contractors/dealers a rebate of up to $1,000 on select boiler products. To qualify for the rebate, boiler units must be purchased from a Rinnai distributor at their published price and registered with the Rinnai Partner Portal (http://partners.rinnai.us).

Following the unit’s registration, contractors/dealers will be e-mailed a rebate voucher, which can be applied to a second boiler unit purchased prior to August 31, 2010. After the second unit is purchased, the rebate voucher and distributor invoice should be mailed to Rinnai by Sept. 30, 2010 for processing. There is a maximum of one rebate voucher per contractor/dealer location, and the amount of rebate varies according to the boiler unit type:

• Models: E75C / E110C – $300 rebate

• Models: Q85S / Q130S – $600 rebate

• Models Q175S / Q205S – $800 rebate

• Model: Q175C – $1,000 rebate

For more information on Rinnai products, visit www.rinnai.us.

Litco Supply Company, owned by Torrington Supply Distribution Group of Waterbury, Conn., opened a new Luxury Bath Center showroom in Torrington, Conn.

Commemorating this, Litco Supply hosted a themed Grand Opening event, “A Treasure is Among Us,” for its trade customers last month. The theme was selected to display to customers they truly are a treasure of Litco Supply and the company hopes the new Luxury Bath Center will be a treasure for them. Along with product displays and tours of the new impressive luxury bath center, trade customers enjoyed an exciting time with colleagues and employees from Litco Supply and Torrington Supply. The new Luxury Bath Center showroom in Torrington is officially open for business serving both retail and trade customers.

Being progressive, Litco Supply is undergoing redesigns of all three of its three showrooms ultimately to generate additional business for both trade and retail. The showrooms are a vehicle to display product in settings of how homeowners would want their homes to look like and or aspire to.

Jen Black of Litco Supply has been the pioneer in the entire rebirth of the Luxury Bath Center.  “Everything is coming together nicely and now we can provide a positive shopping experience for both trade and retail customers,” she said. “Product can now be displayed in a setting that is attractive, functional and draws in the customer based on style. Along with our new showroom, we’re offering a clearance corner that is available to both retail and trade customers.”

After serving for close to 10 years in North America, most recently as director of marketing and product development, Nicolas Grohe will return to Europe this summer, to bring his extensive expertise to the Hansgrohe headquarters.

According to Grohe, “The last three years have been both incredibly challenging and rewarding. It is difficult to quantify just how much I have learned. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with Russ Wheeler, the president, and with such a dedicated and talented team.”

One of four grandsons of company founder Hans Grohe, Grohe has spent the last two decades learning the business from the ground-up.  He followed a distinguished educational career with hands-on training in the plumbing trade and on-the-road sales experience.  He then went on to lead the North American marketing and product development teams where he made lasting contributions to Hansgrohe USA’s organization.  Always ready with an inspiring story or a funny anecdote, Grohe represented the company in dealings with the distribution network across North America.

On the marketing side, Grohe greatly enhanced the Axor brand’s services to the A&D community by spearheading the development of the Axor Design Studio partnership program which includes an extended program involving the industry associations, ASID and AIA, and rich and informative programming and CEU training at the ADS locations. In addition to overseeing initiatives targeting Hansgrohe’s sales and distribution partners, he established programs for the contractor community and wholesale counters.

His experience with, and appreciation for the subtleties of Canadian and U.S. mindsets allowed him to successfully direct product development and completely revamp the collections and offerings across all categories in both the bath and kitchen. He shares his family’s concern and passion for the environment and water conservation.  During his tenure, EcoAIR and AIR Technology were introduced to the market, changing the way users experience water in the shower and the bath – saving millions of gallons of water each year.

Grohe has been an integral part of the community in Forsyth County, Ga. serving on the Chamber of Commerce board, and starting an Economic Development initiative to attract domestic and international companies from the Environmental and Healthcare sectors to this geographic region.

Wholesaler Columnist, John Martin with Anvil International, draws on decades of experience to offer valuable advice on the power of a strong supply chain and building solid, mutually beneficial relationships, even in a slow economy.   Sponsored by Hansgrohe.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Launched in April, Taco HVAC’s Facebook and Twitter activity have quickly become dynamic means of two-way communications with key audiences. Both offer an informal setting where people learn more about Taco and where Taco can learn more about them.

Taco has thrown the doors open to a broad spectrum of people, from residential HVAC, plumbing and heating contractors to commercial system designers and engineers, home and business owners and students. Content and information exchange is largely set by those in the community and what interests them. Taco hopes to stimulate discussion on a broad range of topics having to do with HVAC systems, residential heating and cooling, green building, sustainability green living and energy efficiency.

Through the Taco website (www.taco-hvac.com), all product, system and application information can be accessed. A separate area includes FloPro Neighborhood, the social networking site for members of the FloPro team and John Barba’s blog.

To generate interest and visitor traffic to its Facebook page, Taco has been giving iPod Touches to selected visitors who join the Taco HVAC Facebook community. So far, five iPods have been awarded and several more will be given out. In the near future, a drawing among all those in the community will determine the winner of an iPad.