Leading the Way

With 30 different kitchen and bath sets to explore, Clarke provides customers with maps to follow when they browse the showroom to ensure that they see everything.

Second Place: Plumbing Décor by CastleNorth, Tallahassee, FL

Staying ahead of the curve is the key to Plumbing Décor by CastleNorth's Tallahassee, FL showroom's success. Stunning, constantly changing displays helped to win the showroom second place in the category of Most Innovative Showroom or Use of Displays.

Indeed, "its internally designed display systems result in always fresh displays within an attractive, intelligent layout," says Matt Floeter of Aqua Cops in Oviedo, FL. Floeter nominated the showroom, which carries the Aqua Cops water purification line.
The showroom features displays arranged in a "flexible and inviting Post-Industrial" theme, set in a 4,500-sq.-ft. space, notes Floeter. A second showroom in Tallahassee is due to open this month, with another set to open later this year in Melbourne. Other Plumbing Décor showrooms are located in Orlando, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville and Altamonte Springs.

Among the offerings of this showroom is a large Kohler-inspired boutique where consumers can select from a large variety of Kohler brand products. The location, like the others, also offers a large selection of other plumbing fixture manufacturers that are sourced worldwide. Its faucet product offering includes Kohler, Moen, Delta, Grohe, Santec, KWC and Opella, among others.

The showroom is rounded out with an open contractor counter system "where CastleNorth blends the best aspects of home center display and selection with the speed and experience of a high intensity wholesale distributor. Contractors have open access to all products inventoried at the branch, and can either select their own items or the CastleNorth associate will pick the orders for them," notes Bob Stern, who runs CastleNorth Corp.

Third Place (Tie): Porcelain, Rochester, NY

Featuring a tactile realization of bath and kitchen products pulled from the pages of glossy design magazines, the 6,600-sq.-ft. Porcelain showroom in Rochester, NY is a completely "customer-driven enterprise."

"What customers see in high-end magazines, they can now see in our showroom, up close and personal," explains Jacqui Zacek, Porcelain's general manager.

It is a "homeowner's, architect's and designer's dream come true," according to owners Robert Seiffert IV and Robert Seiffert V. Ruth Kinslow of KMRA in Rochester, agrees. She nominated Porcelain in the category of Most Innovative Showroom or Use of Displays, in which it took third-place honors.

Opened in September 2003 by Supply 1, Porcelain boasts seven fully functional suites. At the heart of the showroom is a glass-bottomed water feature, with samples of working kitchen faucets around the base, a cascade at the center and working showerheads. There is also a fully functional kitchen used by guest chefs for cooking demonstrations.

The showroom features a vast array of American Standard products and is one of the largest American Standard resources on the East Coast. The showroom features an extensive selection of other brands, as well.

Third Place (Tie): Design Centers International (DCI) Home Resource, Charlotte, NC

Providing clients and designers the ability to experiment with new styles and products before they reach the actual job site is what sets Design Centers International (DCI) Home Resource, Charlotte, NC apart. It was that idea that snagged DCI third place in the category of Most Innovative Showroom or Use of Displays.

"The showroom is invaluable in illustrating to clients how products and appliances fit together in different environments," believes Carol Lindell of DCI.

"Being able to view a variety of products and environments before purchase or construction creates an atmosphere of security, trust and 'no surprises,' " agrees Janice Fallacara of Charlotte, NC-based Hadco, who nominated DCI.

Established with a small showroom in the early 1990s in Matthews, NC, DCI moved to its current location in 2000. It added 50% more floor space for additional appliances, plumbing and bath displays.