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| IN THE WELL-MANICURED suburbs of northwest New Jersey's "hunt country." the world's largest producer of plumbing products is pioneering a new retail concept. American Standard has ingeniously combined a bath boutique with a bath fixture showroom, and is calling it Absolute, a stunning collection of lavishly accessorized bathroom settings designed for the upscale shopper. This boutique concept allows American Standard to expose its high-end European products to an American marketplace and, of course, to get a response direct from the consumer. In order to minimize competition with its traditional channels of distribution, 80 percent of what the Absolute boutique carries is unique. While luxury products make up only about five percent of the total market for plumbing products in the United States, it's a niche that has so far been dominated by small, little-known companies like St. Thomas and Sherle Wagner. And it is now a niche in which the American Standard name, backed by a strong tradition of research and marketing innovations, can command attention and make significant strides. |
 Absolute spotlights an Italian renaissance bath setting, where a pedestal sink and tub with gold faucets rest on a marble floor. |
Recognized in Europe and Mexico as Ideal Standard, Piscataway. N.J.-based American Standard has led the industry in design and technological expertise for more than 100 years, and has been responsible for dozens of industry innovations, including the invention of vitreous, or non-porous, china, and Americast, a new product that is making cast-iron obsolete for use in bathrooms. Moreover, American Standard has the largest market share in luxury, products worldwide. Its resume is formidable. Today employee-owned after a leveraged buyout in 1990, American Standard ranks 131st among Fortune magazine's top 500 companies, with sales of $3.5 billion annually. "In another company, a new venture like our launch of the Absolute boutique concept might be stifled." says Patrice O'Regan-Cummings, vice president of merchandising. "But the flip side is that we find we are much more careful of every dollar we spend, because we recognize that everything we do ultimately impacts the bottomline." |
| American Standard's plumbing products division employs approximately 13,000 people around the world. This global structure has helped the company develop and exploit its broad product line, particularly those products sold by Absolute. In fact, the boutique's official title is "Absolute, A World of Bathrooms." The Absolute line is composed of products from among American Standard's 23 joint venture and wholly-owned subsidiaries, located in various corners of the world. The fixtures, many from Europe and South America. are elegant and well-designed, and are marketed at higher price points than most run-of-the-mill fixtures. The Absolute boutique is the brainchild of Emmanuel Kampouris, American Standard's chairman, and his first creation opened in Milan in 1988. A store in London's Mayfair district followed in 1990, designed by British architect Peter Leonard, who also designed America's introduction to Absolute - the Bridgewater store in New Jersey, which opened in November 1991. |
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| "What we have attempted to do is to change people's notions of how to buy a new bathroom for their home," says Leonard. "Although the shop is filled with interesting and unusual furnishings for the bathroom, what distinguishes Absolute from other boutiques is its emphasis on luxury bathroom fixtures and fittings, which until now have been primarily available in plumbing stores or traditional bathroom showrooms." Changing the way Americans view and purchase their bathroom products is no small challenge. and American Standard has been approaching it cautiously. Besides the freestanding stores in Milan, London and Bridgewater, the company has set up special display areas in existing distributors' showrooms abroad. "What we've done is to select the best distributors we have with the best showrooms, and then incorporated what we term Absolute Corners (American Standard's version of the shop-within-a-shop) in them," explains Emmanuel Kampouris. |
 This mission-style bathroom was inspired by the period in American design referred to as the Arts and Crafts Movement. |
| Patrice O'Regan-Cummings was charged with developing the concept for the Bridgewater boutique. "I was struck by all this beautiful product being manufactured overseas and not being marketed in the United States," she says. "As well, American Standard was trying to experiment with a way to get people interested in plumbing products, and we thought these people might be more comfortable in a store that was set up in vignettes, or room sets. Our strategy was to take very unusual, high-priced bathroom fixtures and place them in an appropriate setting for customers of certain income levels and certain taste levels." Absolute is situated on the exclusive Commons level of Bridgewater Commons in Bridgewater, N. J., across from Domain and neighboring Macy's. Other stores with whom Absolute is now keeping company are Brooks Brothers, Godiva Chocolatier, Laura Ashley and Brentano's. |
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 The New York modern bathroom features right and left-hand pedestal sinks. |
Behind a white-mullioned storefront, Absolute spotlights an Italian renaissance bath setting, where a pedestal sink and tub with gold faucets rest on a marble floor. Accenting are towels, plants, and gilt-framed mirrors and wall lamps. Deep display windows line the exterior side wall of the store. The windows are changed on a regular basis and, less frequently, so are the individual bath settings. According to Janet Phelan, Bridgewater Commons store manager, "We haven't yet set up a schedule for changing, because we're still feeling things out. We do tend to re-accessorize the settings regularly so that customers can see them in new ways, without changing the basic fixtures." Other model bathrooms line the right side of the boutique, while to the left are accessories displayed on shelves and tables. The mission-style bathroom, with its wood flooring and woodenframed tub, was inspired by the period in American design referred to as the Arts and Crafts Movement. |
| This missionistic style, practiced most notably by names in architecture and design like Charles and Sumner Green, Gustav Stickley and Frank Lloyd Wright, is distinguished by the completeness of design and the function of details. Both are evident in this bath setting, with its strong, masculine feel, complemented by a dark wooden closet that harbors tall stacks of fluffv terry cloth bathrobes. Razors and shaving brushes are carefully arranged around the sink, and the shelves are merchandised with towels, aftershave, mirrors and picture frames. In the New York modern bathroom, domestically manufactured, right- and left-hand pedestal sinks share space with an imported water closet with air-pressure flush. This fixture complies with new rulings in New York, New Jersey and California that require 1.6-gallon tanks. The tub is filled with white water pillows and the shelves are stocked with washcloths and towels, and with colorful silk flower arrangements. |
| Customers entering through the store's side door pass through the children's bathroom, with its drop-in basin in a wooden vanity, cleverly hand-painted with nursery rhymes, including a whimsical representation of the cow that jumped over the moon. Children's soaps and bath toys are gaily merchandised in this bright, lively and completely delightful bathroom setting. Merchandise on the left side of the store is arranged by color from light to dark. Imported and domestic bathroom fixtures and accessories are lit by high-hats and low-voltage recessed spot lights, as well as by several frosted glass chandeliers. Four-foot walls provide a backdrop for additional displays of pedestal sinks, while cabinets and counters display soaps, shampoos, potpourri, wire storage baskets, carpets and bath mats. |
 Hey, diddle, diddle... this sink is decorated with the children's nursery rhyme. |
| George Kerckhove, senior vice president for Global Plumbing Products, is a staunch believer that Absolute products can be used in renovations as well as in the new home industry. "There is a marked transition to a growing renovation market for the decade of the `90s," he says. "Consumers are upgrading and remodeling their bathrooms for lifestyle purposes and to increase the value of their properties." This upgrading can most readily be accomplished by choosing products of greaterthan-average style or design, when space is limited, or by replacing a standard tub with a whirlpool that fits into the same space, or even by emphasizing features such as safety, comfort and water conservation in new products. Since codes are different in various countries, some products that are appropriate for the overseas market can't be sold here. But Absolute does sell pedestal basins and countertop basins (in the industry jargon, a basin is used in the bathroom, while a sink is used in the kitchen) and tubs and whirlpools. Because of Absolute's location and market, there's an obvious interest in traditionally styled products. The Classic, a $1200 vitreous china pedestal shaped like a Georgian column, is a runaway best-seller, according to O'Regan-Cummings, because, while most pedestal sinks are rather petite, the Classic is 33 inches across. Other pedestals, including the Kimera, from Germany, have been hot sellers as well. "Many people in the plumbing industry still aren't comfortable recommending and installing European fixtures, because they're worried about getting parts down the line," says O'Regan-Cummings "We reassure people that we're not going anywhere - that American Standard is behind this line and we're here to help, with answers about installation, with a full line of parts, even with design services." |
 The New York modern bathroom features right and left-hand pedestal sinks. |
At the rear of the Bridgewater store, clients may meet with designer Elaine Berk in the design center and choose from a wide array of faucets. hardware. tile boards and wallpaper on display at a variety of price points. Berk, an information provider who visits the customers' homes and discusses budget and function as well as design, also advises customers on contractor selection. Absolute's management decided to offer design advice based on conversations with customers who had been through difficult bathroom renovations. "The bathroom is the one room in the house you can't fudge on," says O'Regan-Cummings. Once the tub is set and the water closet installed, everything has to be precise or the problems will be painfully visible. "We want customers to see bathrooms as something special rather than as something strictly functional," says store manager Phelan. "We offer direction to people who are sick of their bath rooms, or are building a new house, by providing advice on where things get placed and what goes together." |
| Many of today's Absolute customers are people who discover the boutique at Bridgewater Commons, though American Standard hopes to grow the shop through customer and designer referrals. Advertising has focused so far on marketing to consumers, though Absolute also exhibits at the National Kitchen and visits the customers' homes and discusses budget and function as well as design, also advises customers on contractor selection. Absolute's management decided to offer design advice based on conversations with customers who had been through difficult bathroom renovations. "The bathroom is the one room in the house you can't fudge on," says O'Regan-Cummings. Once the tub is set and the water closet installed, everything has to be precise or the problems will be painfully visible. "We want customers to see bathrooms as something special rather than as something strictly functional," says store manager Phelan. "We offer direction to people who are sick of their bathrooms, or are building a new house, by providing advice on where things get placed and what goes together." Many of today's Absolute customers are people who discover the boutique at Bridgewater Commons, though American Standard hopes to grow the shop through customer and designer referrals. Advertising has focused so far on marketing to consumers, though Absolute also exhibits at the National Kitchen and Bath Show. As well, the Discovery channel invited Absolute to participate in a series on innovative companies in the building products sector. The 15-minute video, which focuses on American Standard's technological innovations as well as on the Absolute store and its products, may raise consumer awareness. |
| "We originally allowed ourselves one year to decide on the feasibility of this concept, but we are learning so much that we're waiting an additional year to refine the concept before expanding," says O'Regan-Cummings. "We are constantly reviewing our product mix, and are now adding more plumbing products." Why rural New Jersey for this pioneering concept? "We might have chosen a street of shops' like Rodeo Drive, but settled in Bridgewater Commons because of its wonderful stores and excellentlent demographics." she says. "In addition, the Bridgewater location is quite convenient to our corporate headquarters, making it easy for corporate management to work with the store. and to use it as a training site for new managers." The location also facilitates training for store employees. "We transport full-time sales personnel to headquarters every Thursday morning for a sales training seminar, where we talk about the products and about installing and specifying them, as well as how to sell at the upper end of the market." says O'Regan-Cummings. '`It's a challenge, because they're grand luxury products. It's like learning to be a salesman in a Lexus dealership." |
 "The whole idea is to take very unusual, high-priced fixtures and place them in an appopriate setting for customers of certain income levels and certain taste levels." |
| Absolute has helped American Standard in ways that reach beyond the bottomline. "The Absolute concept without question has raised the image of American Standard throughout the world," says Kerckhove. "It has put us in the grand luxury class of product offering. Even more, it has brought these luxury products direct to the end-user." Potential expansion plans call for the opening of more freestanding stores as well as developing Absolute Corners within U.S. distributors' showrooms, allowing American Standard to take advantage of existing channels of distribution while retaining a distinct identity for the Absolute line. The first Absolute Corner opened in Italy in 1990; there are now 40 such Corners in showrooms throughout Italy, another 10 across Europe and one in the Far East. The first Absolute Corner in the United States opened in March 1993, at Imaginative Design in Bedminster, NJ., a high-end luxury plumbing products showroom. "We hope to open one Corner a month for the next four years." projects Patrice O'Regan-Cummings. "Within 10 years, American Standard projects that there may be as many as 50 to 100 Absolute Corners within distributors' showrooms throughout the United States and as many as 25 boutiques." And thousands more absolute-ly beautiful bathrooms. Neil Plakcy is a Hollywood-based writer and web developer. THE PLAYERS CLIENT American Standard Inc. Emmanuel Kampouris, Chairman George Kerckhove. Sr. V.P. /Global Plumbing Products Patrice O'Regan-Cummings, V.P./Merchandising Consultants Architect: Peter Leonard Associates General Contractor: Dejohn/Sullivan Suppliers Millwork: Dimensions in Furniture |