NKBA member companies introduced initiatives, made acquisitions, took strides toward sustainability and more in 2021. By Dianne M. Pogoda
COMPANY NEWS
BETTER LIVING WITH KOHLER: Kohler Co. hosted a two-day “Kohler Living” virtual summit that brought together thought leaders from design, art, culture, business and its own corporate corridors to discuss topics and products affecting the way we live and work. Among the headliners was actress Reese Witherspoon, who joined president and CEO David Kohler to talk about championing a personal and professional mission and becoming a force for positive change. The conference focused on wellbeing, design and inspiration, smarter homes and “Believing in Better.” For more, click here.
Kohler also released its annual 2020 Believing in Better Metrics Report outlining progress in reducing the company’s GHG emission intensity, waste-to-landfill intensity, water-use intensity and other key social and environmental commitments.
2020, COMPUSOFT MERGE: In August, Private equity firms Genstar Capital and TA Associates said they agreed to merge their portfolio companies, 2020 Technologies and Compusoft. The combined entity creates a leading provider of space planning and manufacturing solutions for residential and commercial segments, offering an end-to-end suite of planning, design, visualization, configuration, pricing, quoting, ERP and manufacturing solutions to consumers, retailers and suppliers across multiple K&B and interior design segments. Read more here.
THERMADOR’S DIVERSITY PROJECT: Luxury appliance brand Thermador named the five scholarship winners and mentors for its inaugural Diversity in Design Pipeline Initiative: Aleah Mazyck, UNC Greensboro; Kayla Martin, California State University; Raquel Rodrigues, Texas Tech University; Jonathan Martin, University of Northern Iowa, and Chrystal McLeod, Georgia Southern University. The initiative, in partnership with the Interior Design Society (IDS), supports senior interior design students from underrepresented communities in transitioning to successful careers. Mentors were selected by IDS and include Ami Austin, Bria Hammel, Kelley Finley, Liz MacPhail and Jonathan Savage. For more information, visit the Thermador website.
POGGENPOHL OPENS IN SOHO: German cabinetry specialist Poggenpohl opened a 5,000-square-foot flagship experience center in Manhattan’s SoHo. The two-story space in a historic 100-year-old building juxtaposes old and new styles, showcasing modern European kitchens and luxury interiors amid Corinthian-style columns and 15-foot ceilings in the loft-style open floor plan. This is the first U.S. location in Poggenpohl’s global redesign that showcases luxurious home-like environments, representing the brand’s kitchen concepts: +SEGMENTO, +MODO, +VENOVO and +STAGE.
BEKO RACKS UP ENERGY AWARDS: Beko Home Appliances earned a 2021 Sustainable Innovation Award for Smart, Sustainable Home Appliances from Good Housekeeping. Experts assessed the entrants for performance and on factors including energy, water and waste reduction; recycled content and recyclability; reusability and functionality of packaging; corporate social responsibility efforts, including goals for carbon neutrality, zero waste and more, as well as labor and gender equity practices. Beko also racked up the EPA’s Energy Star accolades including the Energy Star Emerging Technology Award, for its refrigeration products. This year marked its third as a winner of the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award.
FORMICA CORP. PLEDGES NET CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2030: Formica® Brand surfaces revealed its new sustainability initiatives, including a goal to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2030. As part of this goal, Formica aims for a midpoint benchmark of a 25% reduction of CO2 emissions and 10% reduction in primary energy demand by 2026. In addition, the company will pursue a 5% reduction of its water footprint in the next five years. The company also has pledged to publish its environmental impact data every year, along with its targets and initiatives for the coming year. Read more about its sustainability efforts here.
GE, GOOGLE IN DEAL: GE Appliances and Google Cloud signed a multi-year partnership to build innovative technologies to enhance the consumer experience in the kitchen and throughout the home. GEA turned to Google Cloud for its expertise in data, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate this process — and is integrating these capabilities into its entire appliance development process, from ideation to the production line. The companies plan to develop the next generation of smart appliances with Google Cloud Vision AI.
BUILDING A NEW CITY: Cosentino opened its second City experience in Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead Village district. The Spanish-based architectural surfaces giant christened the $1.3 million, 3,824 square-foot showroom in October, following a successful launch of a 4,600-square-foot space in Chicago in September. The City concept is a hub where architects, design professionals and homeowners can explore materials, 3D visualizations and more. Atlanta is the sixth U.S. showroom and it’s the 18th Cosentino City globally.
MATERIAL BANK BUYS CLIPPINGS: Sampling platform Material Bank, part of the SANDOW group, acquired London-based procurement platform Clippings for an undisclosed price. Clippings, founded in 2014, is a free online marketplace for mostly commercial design projects. Designers use it to source product from more than 650 brands; Clippings handles shipping and logistics and earns a margin on sales. Sandow said the marketplace service will continue to expand in Europe, but it has no immediate plans to bring it to the U.S. However, Clippings’ other business — licensing technology to design brands for a turnkey solution to power their e-commerce — will be expanded to firms eager to do more business online but don’t have the resources to build their own tools from scratch.
EMERALD ACQUIRES AV-iQ: Emerald Holding Inc., parent of NKBA’s show producing partner Emerald, which produces KBIS, bought AV-iQ, a product database and integrator service provider in the commercial audio-video space. AV-iQ provides a central database to serve the commercial AV community with a platform for integrators and end users to research, plan and connect with AV brands and their channel partners. Work is in progress to launch a residentially focused version of AV-iQ in January. For more info, visit av-iq.com.
HOWARD’S BUYS MIDWAY: Howard’s, a leading independent appliance retailer in Southern California, acquired the operations and assets of Midway Home Solutions, a leading appliance dealer in Victorville, Calif., and a member of the Nationwide Marketing Group network of independent retailers. The acquisition is part of Howard’s growth strategy to expand into the High Desert region. The 60-year-old Midway is one of the largest single-store appliance retailers in the U.S. by volume, with a 45,000-square-foot showroom and an attached 50,000-square-foot distribution center.
SILESTONE’S NEW STYLE: Surfacing giant Cosentino is rebranding its Silestone collection to appeal to Millennials. The company said it wants to engage with a younger demographic, which is highly focused on values and wants to do business with “brands that inspire them.” As such, Silestone has begun pushing toward more sustainable manufacturing practices. In 2020, Silestone began using a proprietary technology called HybriQ+, a manufacturing process that uses 99% reused water and 100% renewable energy.
TONY AND JIMMY G PLUG SKILLED TRADES: Tony Garoppolo, a retired career electrician, and his son, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, celebrated the “Skills USA National Signing Day” on ESPN Radio in New York in the spring. Typically, “signing days” for high-school athletes take place when they commit to a college sports team. Amid conversation about the NFL draft and Super Bowl memories, the Garoppolos plugged the virtual ceremony for the skilled trades, for students committing to advanced technical training to become electricians, plumbers and HVAC professionals. “No one hands you anything, but it’s an opportunity for a great career, and you can make a nice living out of it,” said Tony. “You’re going to have to work, and work hard — but that’s the goal with anything in life: work hard to achieve what you want.” The annual event is sponsored by Home Depot, Klein Tools, 84 Lumber, and NC3, the National Coalition of Certification Centers.
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