April 20, 2020

The pandemic is affecting every company and every aspect of business, including factories, marketing, showrooms, distribution and kitchen and bath brands. KBB talked with several kitchen and bath manufacturers scattered across North America and Europe to find out how they are doing and how they are still getting products out safely.

How the Pandemic Is Affecting Kitchen and Bath Brands

“The pandemic has changed the way we at Perlick work. Our office associates are all working from home to reduce the amount of people at our headquarters, and we stay connected through virtual meetings and calls. All factory workstations were modified to follow strict CDC social-distancing guidelines. We are connecting with and supporting our customers, suppliers, partners and designers through how-to videos, virtual trainings, social media, e-documents and e-newsletters.”

– Heather Shannon, senior brand marketing manager, Perlick

“Overall, it has really only affected our special finish lead time, from our normal six to eight weeks to 10-12 weeks. Our factory has government restrictions, causing many workers’ shifts to be reduced. Domestically, my own travel as the director of the company has been halted, although we’re now conducting more trainings via web conferencing than ever before. It’s been a nice change in that regard.”

– John Weinstein, director of Franz Viegener North America

“Our business is running normally; customer care, tech support and inside sales staff are working from home, and factory workers are employing social-distancing practices and utilizing the protocols we’ve set up.”

– Mitch Altman, CEO of ThermaSol

“To ensure the safety of our employees, our teams have been asked to work from home. Skype conferences are now a regular way to discuss projects and for team meetings. Our departments such as sales, marketing, operations and customer service are all fully functional and able to support the needs from our customers and in the field. We have moved to processing agreements, contracts and approvals electronically without any delay from the day-to-day operations.”

– Alex Squarize, divisional director, Liebherr USA

“We have had to furlough our factory, as 1,000 of our retail stores in Europe have closed or are only selling government-classed essentials. Our customer service teams are working from home, and the distribution centers all remain open for online business, while employing social distancing and increased hygiene protocols.”

– Alan Kemp, head of brand marketing, Graham & Brown

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected how we conduct business on almost every level. This situation has brought questions and concerns, but this has been managed from the beginning with constant communications with our employees, business partners and customers to keep them safe and informed about all our measures and actions. We have also implemented work from home of 64 percent of our employees in the U.S. and Canada. For those employees who are still working in the shops and centers, considered as business essentials, we implemented hygiene protocols to ensure safety at all levels in the organization.”

– A Cosentino representative

“Due to current social-distancing requirements, we are not able to blow glass. So we are taking this time to repair and update the glass studio. When the guidance changes, we will be ready to hit the ground running. Fortunately, we have a lot of glass parts in stock in a variety of shapes and colors, just waiting to become new light fixtures.”

– Glover, Tracy Glover Studio

“This crisis is like a puzzle with no edge pieces. No one has a definitive answer to when or how this will stop. We can’t throw money at this and make it better over time. In ’07, you had to ride the wave. We knew that building would be back. We stayed in touch with our showrooms that provided smaller orders. With COVID-19, the calls we have been making are more personal. With the showrooms, designers, architects and builders, we have dealt with in the past the phone calls and emails are deeper. The conversations are not solely about business. There is more talk about family and more talk about how your region has been affected. l hope we can stay connected and build better, stronger business relationships in the end.”

– Travis Fearon, Timeless Tile and Designs

How Kitchen and Bath Brand Manufacturing Is Going

“We are able to continue to operate at all of our manufacturing and distribution locations in accordance with each jurisdiction’s requirements in the U.S., Cambodia and Shanghai. Additionally, we are designated as a critical infrastructure business as a manufacturer and distributor of wood products and a supplier to housing construction under the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers COVID-19 Response. While fulfilling customer needs is at the forefront of our contingency planning in the midst of COVID-19, the welfare of our employees and customers is paramount. To help mitigate the potential spread of the virus and in accordance with the governor’s order, employees at our headquarters in Mountville, Pa., are working remotely.”

– Wendy Booker, vice president of marketing and new product development, AHF Products

“The factory will reopen if we run out of products currently in stock. We are still open for business with our distribution center processing web orders and our pattern rooms dispatching samples.  Our app is also still available to download, allowing people to pick and visualize our wallpapers and paints at home. We are in unprecedented demand, so lead times are longer than normal as we practice safe working procedures.”

– Kemp, Graham & Brown

“Cosentino’s factory in Spain and its distribution locations have been adopting a specific protocol to accommodate all restrictions imposed by the government to continue operations in a responsible manner and maintain shipments to distribution facilities. We are continuing to ship orders to North America from Spain on a regular basis. All Cosentino centers in North America have very high levels of inventory, material continues in transit on the water, and new containers are being shipped as well. Our distribution centers and showrooms here in North America have inventory that is ready and available to be shipped to customers. Our employees are working regular hours, and we have implemented virtual visits to our centers for our customers to choose the slabs from the safety of their office or home.”

– A Cosentino representative

“We are a small team in a cavernous studio. We can keep manufacturing and assembling the metal components because everyone can work in their own area without overlap. We are still shipping orders with glass on hand and sending samples.”

– Tracy Glover, Tracy Glover Studio

“We are a manufacturing company, so 90 percent of our work force has been working on site at the factory. As an employer, I have had to be more mindful about my employees’ wellbeing. We have implemented safe-distance working. More signs have been put up about cleaning surfaces, wearing protective equipment, washing hands and cleaning uniforms. There are usually three or four of us in the office. Now it is just me in the office with two others working remotely. You never realize how much you interact with your number one and number two until they are not there. There are a lot of emails, texts and phone calls to make sure that production runs smoothly. You have to be open and honest with your showrooms that things will take just a little longer in this current situation.”

– Fearon, Timeless Tile and Designs

Ensuring Factories & Products are Safe

“Our plants are operational; not only is flooring considered a critical infrastructure, but the dust from our factories is used for fuel. We protect our folks in the plants and have rearranged the work in them to make more space between each person. We are adjusting our production levels to meet demand for the near term, but part of our role is to position our company and customers to win in the future. We continue to invest in new products; pacing ramp-up, we continue to buy lumber because it needs six months to dry. We are still expanding our Cambodian plant, which offers tariff and duty-free products. The market will be back, and we will need to support our customers and their needs.”

– Booker, AHF Products

“In accordance with the recommended guidance from the CDC as well as local, state and federal government agencies, we have developed and implemented guidelines promoting health and safety across all functional areas of our business. Included in these new guidelines are social-distancing practices, cancellation of nonessential travel and a limitation of external visitors to our facilities.” Editor’s note: HMI Cardinal is a glass products company that specializes in shower doors.

– Leigh Berberian, director of marketing, HMI Cardinal

“The picking area of our distribution center has been increased to allow more space and ease of social distancing. The factory when it reopens will only open certain lines so more space for workers within the space. Washing stations and recommended hygiene factors are in place. Our products are safe, but as with any delivery, customers should wash their hands thoroughly upon handling them as with current health care advice.”

– Kemp, Graham & Brown

Working with Potential Customers Right Now

“To better support a more personalized ‘home-shopping’ experience for consumers during the stay-at-home orders, we are enhancing our consumer samples program and have initiated a program where all consumer samples, ordered through participating flooring retailers, are free until June 30th. In addition, we recommend that consumers and trade professionals check out our new online room visualizers for the Bruce and Hartco brands. These can be a valuable resource to help make the right flooring choice. Not only can consumers see how a color or style will look in a variety of different rooms, but they can even upload their own image to see how their selections will look in their own home.”

– Booker, AHF Products

“Our customer service teams have been very innovative to support customers through digital platforms for service calls. They can support our customers without leaving home, ensuring the safety for everyone. Our marketing department is communicating through our social media channels and newsletters, providing solutions and ideas to stay busy while everyone is being asked to stay at home.”

– Squarize, Liebherr USA

“We are working with our dealers daily. Many have had to temporarily close, and we worked with them on their orders. From a new client (customer) standpoint, we are conducting sales via virtual meetings. Also, we implemented virtual product training for both our current and new dealers/designers. We are additionally providing great tools and education to our dealers on working from home with virtual tools and more.”

– Angela O’Neill, director of marketing, Wellborn Cabinetry

Positive Thoughts from Manufacturers

“Those of us in the new-home construction and remodel business need to remember that the work we do adds tremendous value to people’s lives. Especially as most of us have been confined to our homes, this has heightened our feeling that home is a haven, our safe place, and this, in turn, has elevated the need to continue to protect and invest in our homes.”

– Booker, AHF Products

“Our team has quickly adapted to home working, and the massive increase in video conferencing suggests we can travel less, which will be good for the environment long term. The desire for people to decorate and wallpaper and reflect on the places where they now spend their time can be seen in the doubling of online sales. We’re pleased that in a small way we can help people stay at home and have projects to do to keep up their mental well-being in these challenging times.”

– Kemp, Graham & Brown

“One of the things we are most proud of is our #takeouttuesday social media movement to encourage our associates and social media followers to support local restaurants and bars by ordering takeout, delivery or curbside meals. We partnered with our customers to expand this as a social movement. Every week, we feature new bars and restaurants that our audiences can support. Everyone is in this together, and we want to do our part to support small businesses during this difficult time. Also, we are manufacturing and shipping refrigeration units to healthcare and senior-living facilities, including the pop-up hospitals being set up to serve the COVID-19 patients. We are very proud to support medical staff in their life saving work.”

– Shannon, Perlick

“I suppose the best silver lining in this crisis is that people are taking the time to be people.  We are speaking and listening to each other more intently. I believe we are all more frazzled trying to find the balance between work, family and home, but in that frazzle, there is a new kind of willingness and patience to work ideas through, even a newfound forgiveness. Having one million square feet of stock in the U.S. has allowed us to not only continue our day-to-day business but even rescue many projects that were stuck in the middle.”

– Amy Tanenbaum, president, SICIS

“Building is not going away. There will always be a need for personal space. People are going to concentrate on making their personal space comfortable – both office and home. Stay strong and think positively about the future. We will all be okay.”

– Fearon, Timeless Tile and Designs