58•
Rebuilding a Brand The economy and foreseable future (Continued from page 56.)
companies of Sun Capital. As we brought the three companies together we renamed the company American
Standard Brands. Mesenbrink: How did you get in- volved in the industry and the com-
pany? Devine: I joined U.S. Industries,
the predecessor company to Jacuzzi Brands, in 2002 when the company was truly in trouble, including having a “going concern” opinion from its auditors, meaning liquidation was more likely than survival. We devel- oped a plan that enabled us to raise over $600 million to refinance our debt, fund our operations and help the company to survive. Along the way, we renamed the company Jacuzzi Brands, which included Jacuzzi, Sun- dance Spas, Zurn and Eljer Indus- tries. I have always been attracted to challenging situations, and U.S. In- dustries and Jacuzzi Brands fit that bill. When I joined American Stan- dard in 2006, it was also a challeng- ing situation in that the Americas was an under-performing business and the parent company was about to be bro-
ken up. Mesenbrink: What are some at- tributes that you have that you have
instilled into the company? Devine: Impatience and urgency to
get after things that are important to our customers and consumers, and that drive our profitability. Being highly organized, which has enabled us to execute a great deal of change
on time, and on budget, in a difficult
market. Mesenbrink: With the economy
weighing heavily on people’s minds these days, what do you project for the foreseeable future? Particularly in this kitchen and bath market, do
you see a turnaround imminent? Devine: Both residential and com-
mercial repair and remodeling will show modest strength in the plumb- ing categories in 2011. New residen- tial and commercial construction continue to bounce along the bottom and we would expect a more robust rebound sometime in 2012. We are fortunate in that, despite the
uncertain economy, bathrooms and kitchens remain two areas in the home where consumers really care about how our products look and function. We know that the consumer will replace a broken and/or poorly performing kitchen or bath faucet or toilet, especially when they know that the upgrade will truly work better, improve their homes’ appearance and reduce their water usage costs. How- ever, the economy has resulted in consumers deferring large remodel- ing projects. We don’t expect this trend to change until home prices re- bound and the consumer is confident the project will have a positive return
on investment. Mesenbrink: Do you anticipate any changes in business philosophies
or structures during this period? Devine:We have spent the last 40 months focused on updating our
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products, improving our cost struc- ture, and making our business sys- tems more reliable. We expect our focus to remain on these areas so that the consumer and trade can have con- fidence that when they buy an Amer- ican Standard product they are getting a great value, excellent prod- uct performance and desirable styles. Our product development commit- ment is to deliver ‘style that works better.’ We firmly believe that end users of our products should not have to choose between design and func-
tionality – they can get both from us. Mesenbrink:What is your biggest sense of accomplishment since being
with ASB? Devine: It would have to be that
we have successfully turned around the company so that the iconic Amer- ican Standard brand will survive and continue to be part of our industry well into the future. We are also very proud of the transformation of our product line. In 2006, we were fo- cused on high volume and low value products, and we didn’t do a very good job of servicing our customers. Today, we have successfully mi- grated to higher value price points be- cause of our leading-edge design and great product performance. For ex- ample, American Standard offers
•THE WHOLESALER® —APRIL 2011
more WaterSense-certified toilets, ca- pable of achieving maximum bulk re- moval scores for no-clog performance, than anyone else in the industry. That means no clogs and no double flushes on a wide variety of styles and price points. You can check this at
Allianceforwaterefficiency.org. I’m also pleased with our other ex-
clusive product innovations, includ- ing our Speed Connect drain for faucets that reduces labor time and hassle, and our patented EverClean systems for simplified care and main-
tenance of our plumbing products. Mesenbrink: In addition to the
water-saving toilet performance you mentioned above, to what degree is
ASB immersed in green building? Devine: American Standard is fo-
cused on developing design-oriented, performance-focused water efficient products that save water and money, and don’t require the consumer to trade off functionality for conserva- tion. We have a wide variety of fix- tures and fittings, styles, and functionality to meet the strictest green building codes. Our entire res- idential bathroom sink faucet line carries the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense-certification, and is lead-free to meet the require- ments for both California and Ver- mont. We have a wide variety of (Turn to Expansion, page 60.)
The Socially-Responsible — and Social — CEO Don Devine has taken American Standard Brands into new areas of social responsibility… and new worlds of social media
In early 2010, Devine signed a Statement of Sup-
port for the National Guard and Reserve at a cere- mony in Washington attended by The Honorable Dennis M. McCarthy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Devine was inspired to sign the Statement by a plumber he had befriended through GreenPlumbers USA – Nick Marine of Marine Plumbing in Marietta, Ga. – who also serves as pres- ident of the Naval Enlisted Reservists Association (NERA). American Stan- dard donated all plumbing fixtures to remodel the NERA national headquarters, in addition to its regular donations of product to Home for Our Troops. Marine commented, “American Standard has me as a customer for life, because of what Don Devine has done for our troops.” Such networking has also served Devine well online. He recently “met”
Can help earn LEED®
points.
Request your copy of the new catalog at:
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John Murphy, a master plumber in New England and President of the new National Association of Plumbing Showroom Professionals through LinkedIn and personally sent him an American Standard faucet with the Speed Connect drain. John later sent an unsolicited testimonial, lauding the product: “This drain really does what America Standard claims and more … this new lavatory drain is a problem- solver and it is a pleasure to install.” American Standard maintains an active presence on You Tube, Facebook,
@
www.neoperl.com
See contact information on page 00 • Be sure to visit
www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! •
and Twitter, as well as the popular
ProfessorToilet.com blog. For the trade,
AmericanStandardPRO.com has everything from spec sheets to installation instructions to individual SKU-level ordering information. For consumers, the company’s Water Savings Calculator and Rebate Locator at
www.Re-
sponsibleBathroom.com provide valuable water saving information, plus two interactive phone apps.
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