I would like to know — in this great country of ours, which continues to be ours to keep, improve or destroy — why can’t we all try to work and understand our neighbors and get along for the good of the country and world we all get to live in? 

Nobody has to tell you how difficult it has become to find the “right people” to employ. Barring a recession, it doesn’t look like the situation will get any better soon.

Like your house, your business projects an image to potential buyers. When they come to see your business for the first time, your “curb appeal” can attract a buyer to your business — or cause him to walk away from it.

Little did Caitlin Skaggs know when she applied for a job posting at Wiseway Supply’s showroom that she would become what she now laughingly refers to as a “plumbing and lighting snob.” 

Each year at the AIM/R annual conference, manufacturers and reps discuss best practices and industry trends in a session called the Rep and Manufacturer Roundtable (RAM).

With remodeling activity expected to stall in the first three quarters of 2020, it’s time for showrooms to get creative about how they bring in new and existing clients. 

I often use parallels when I’m describing the physical appearance of a showroom and the culture of the company. It’s typically easy to see the differences between a high-performing showroom culture and one that is not by walking in the front door.

We were excited to be in Seattle recently for the 18th annual Decorative Plumbing & Hardware Association (DPHA) conference.

Globe Union is one of the largest suppliers of plumbing products in the world. Headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan, it oversees an impressive 5 million square feet of manufacturing, assembly and distribution facilities located on three continents and in nine countries. 

It seems that recession talk always greets the arrival of a new year. It is not as if anything changes as far as the economy is concerned when the calendar flips to a new year, but it seems to be the trigger for people to take stock of their decisions and assumptions regarding the next year.