Page 92 - Lighting Magazine March 2018

new MarkEts
‘matchy-matchy’ style,” Mills remarks. “I nd things that work together and catch people’s eyes. People want their houses to look ‘found’ rather than ‘de- signed’ — like they went somewhere cool and found something special to bring home. It’s much more fun to design than just ordering a suite!”
LIfe In The Luxury markeT
Je rey Valles, of Chown Hardware in Portland, has been involved in the luxury market all of his life. His father sold high-end textiles to clothing manufactur- ers in Los Angeles, and he grew up with a love of design and luxury. A er college, Valles joined Phyl- rich, working for founder Alfred Dubin, whom he describes as “the man who brought high-end plumb- ing into showrooms.”
“When I started in the early ’80s, most plumbing wholesalers looked at their showrooms as a nui- sance,” he recalls. “Usually the receptionist or the owner’s daughter was ‘the showroom girl.’ There were very few wholesalers who put a lot of resources into creating beautiful showroom spaces.”
“Branding is critical,” he states. “We are trying to brand our lighting because we believe the brands a showroom carries has a lot to do with its success. We want people to learn and know [our] brands, so we hired an ad agency to help us get our message out. We’ve spent the last eight months in strategy and branding meetings, and completely redesigned our Website with a focus on SEO.”
Despite Chown’s new technologies and branding e orts, Valles still believes that people are a distribu- tor’s greatest asset. “Our sta knows the value of the relationships they build because they see how it continues to bring them referrals. It’s our job to guide customers to the xtures that will give them a li le bit of glee each time they see or touch them,” he says.
provIdInG a LITTLe LaGnIappe
One of the most interesting families in plumbing — and now lighting, hardware, appliances, and outdoor furniture — is the Vinturellas of Southland Plumb- ing Supply in New Orleans. Much like the city they call home, their personalities and marketing savvy are almost bigger than life. It’s a true family busi- ness: Alan Vinturella, son of the company’s founder and a chemical engineering graduate of LSU, is the company owner and by his side — since they were four years old — is his wife Mona, a gi ed designer who manages their outdoor living center and works
“When I started in the early ’80s, most plumbing
wholesalers looked at their showrooms as a nuisance. There were very few wholesalers who put a lot of resources into creating beautiful showroom spaces.”
—Je rey Valles, Chown Hardware
closely with Southland’s showrooms. Their son, Chad, and daughter, Loni, also hold hands-on man- agement roles at the company.
Southland is the only independent plumbing wholesaler serving the New Orleans market. Ironi- cally, much of their growth came a er Hurricane Katrina. With his long plumbing industry relation- ships, Vinturella was able to ensure that Southland could provide customers with the products they desperately needed for rebuilding. They expanded into new product categories primarily in response to customers’ need for convenience and reliability at a time when ge ing around the city was extraordi- narily di cult.
“When we started looking into lighting, Mona and I went to the lighting show in Dallas and we knew right away it would be the right mix for us,” Alan comments. “At the same time, we hired two women who had previous experience in lighting, which was extremely important because lighting is a completely di erent type of sale.” They also lobbied their buying group, Omni/LPG, to bring in its rst lighting vendor: Kichler. Since then, several more have been added.
Mona says renovating the showroom was a ma- jor endeavor. “We had to recon gure much of the space because of all the behind-the-wall electrical work to do. Every xture on display has to be lit
The Wool showrooms will be incorporating a stronger lighting presence in their stores.
90 enLIGHTenment Magazine | March 2018
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