Knob Deco had a great time attending the 2013 KBIS show (The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) in New Orleans April 19 - 21. The show definitely brought out some of the best brands and products in the cabinet hardware industry that we were excited to learn more about. There continues to be a ton of design innovation in the cabinet pull and knob industry. (Image Source)
For those of you who weren’t able to make it to the show, a couple of key observations we wanted to share with you:
- Expect to see more contemporary products coming. Growth in contemporary cabinet hardware products was a theme we heard consistently throughout the show.
- Polished chrome is the new exciting finish. Expect to see more and more manufacturers offering this finish type soon.
- Ecommerce has been a critical growth engine for the hardware industry. It has been the largest growing channel for the past 5 years. Many brands are investing heavily in making it easier for their customers to find and research their products online.
- Excitement about the future is growing. Many of the companies we talked with mentioned turning the sales corner and returning to growth in the past year.
It was also great to extend some of the relationships that we have developed in the hardware industry over the past 18 months. Some of the manufacturer meeting highlights from our trip include:
- Checking out some of the new cabinet hardware lines from Top Knobs and Jeffrey Alexander with the Hardware Resources team. You’ll find these new lines on http://www.knobdeco.com soon.
- Going through Hardware Resources new beta website including visualization technology with David and Felicia.
- Getting an update on Keeler’s new products with Craig from Keeler Products. We’re excited to be looking at adding some of their new offerings along with partnering on some technology initiatives.
- Getting a tour from Amanda of the immense product offerings from Your “Other” Warehouse – especially some of their new vanity and sink offerings
- Talking with RKI Hardware on their new cabinet hardware lines
- Walking through the new products and designs from Berenson Hardware and R. Christensen with Michael and the team
- Being introduced to Acorn Manufacturing’s forged iron hardware development process. Look for these high quality cabinet and architectural hardware products from http://www.knobdeco.com soon.
- Discussing new product offerings and marketing initiatives with Michael from HAFELE. The HAFELE booth was high energy all weekend.
- Discussing Schwinn’s tab pull and recessed pull lines with. Schwinn was just added to the http://www.knobdeco.com site in early April.
- Juergen from Siro discussed their upcoming new product and catalog releases with us. Expect more on these updates this summer.
- Drew from Sietto gave us a preview of their soon to be released line of new light aqua handmade glass decorative hardware products. Think contemporary retro.
- John from Big Sky Hardware and Sierra Lifestyles talked us through where the brands are going after their acquisition of MNG product's line in 2012
- David from GADO GADO gave us a wonderfully detailed explanation of the handmade manufacturing process each GADO GADO product goes through in Indonesia using 100% recycled brass.
- Richelieu had an exciting booth with many new innovating products for the kitchen including sliding island tops and pull out tables.
- Alex at Omnia Industries gave us a great update on their brand. We look forward to offering a refreshed product line of Omnia products on the site soon.
- We had a great conversation with Brian and Keith at Sugatsune on how Knob Deco can better represent their line of high quality cabinet hardware products.
- After speaking with Russell and Lori, look for a refreshed offering of Schaub & Co. products shortly
Nice review! I liked what Keeler was showing with their new light strips.
ReplyDeleteYes, We’re excited to see new offering products along with partnering on some technology initiatives.
Delete