July 24, 2006
The pull of granite | A Bath business bets that custom knobs to match granite countertops will be the next must-have accessory for high-end kitchens, but will the trend toward stone last?
By Caitlin Elsaesser
It all started when Susan Elkin, a retired hospice nurse, was remodeling her kitchen in Arrowsic Island. Having recently developed a love for stone, Elkin wanted to install stone knobs to match the granite countertop in her kitchen. The trouble was, she couldn't find a company in the United States that had what she wanted. So she decided to get into the stone business.
After two trips to Italy ˆ and 11 months of preparation work ˆ Elkin and her business partner, Ken Baker, last fall opened a company called Mainely Knobs that the pair hope will attract homeowners and kitchen designers with the same design idea Elkin had: The Bath-based outfit creates stone knobs specifically to match kitchen or bath countertops, marble fireplaces and other stone architectural features.
To create a match, the company asks customers to send scraps of stone from their countertop installation or other remodeling project, from which Mainely Knobs then grinds out a set of knobs. Although Elkin and Baker say they weren't looking to start a business, the fact that they couldn't find a company offering the same service showed the pair they might have discovered a niche. "I was absolutely shocked that custom-made stone knobs were not available," Elkin says. "All that other companies offered were knobs cut in squares or triangles. That is not design, that's what you learn in kindergarten, what you do in play dough."
Elkin and Baker hope to capitalize on this gap in the market, along with the continued surge in interest for kitchen remodeling. Jim Lapides, a communications manager at the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C., says kitchen remodeling in this country has jumped from a $2.7 billion business in 2001 to $12.4 billion in 2005. And stone appears to be the material of choice in many of those remodeling jobs. Donato Pompo of California-based Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants says consumption of stone in the United States has grown an average of 15% each year since 1998.
Carol Bartlett, a certified kitchen designer for the past 25 years who works at Brunswick-based Down East Building Supply, says the interest in kitchen design has been steady in Maine. And as part of that trend, customers are more particular about the details such as countertops and knobs. "People are more aware of what is available" these days, she says, and want their kitchens "new and bright."
But even though it seems like a simple idea ˆ granite countertops are popular, ergo granite knobs should sell well ˆ Elkins and Baker found that creating their custom knob company was far from simple. First, they had to figure out what machinery was needed to create stone knobs. Then, they had to figure out the best way to introduce the product to the high-end kitchen design industry.
A handle on the business
Besides creating a business plan, one of the first challenges for Elkin and Baker was finding a machine to create stone knobs. "People in the stone business didn't believe we could do this," Elkin says. "They had never heard of anything like it."
She looked around the world for the right equipment before finding what she needed in the little town of Carrara, Italy (where much of the marble used by Michelangelo came from). Elkin and Baker set out for Carrara in 2005 to meet with Franco Baccheiri, a man who creates stone-cutting machinery. After a meeting, Baccheiri agreed to make two machines needed to cut their custom knobs. On a second trip, they packed the 2,800 pounds of equipment in a 20-foot crate and sent it on a six-month journey by boat to Maine.
With $800,000 worth of machinery in hand, the two went to the task of setting up operations at home. They decided to run the business out of Bath because of its proximity to their homes. They leased space, bought insurance and started to build a customer base of kitchen designers and home-fixture showrooms by phone. Susan designed their first knob model, naming it the "Sasanoa" after the nearby Sasanoa River.
While the two hope to introduce more styles by next year ˆ naming each model after a Maine river ˆ their ability to do so depends on whether they can afford the $4,000 cutter head needed for each new model. And that depends on business. It took a while for the two to find the right price for their product, Elkin admits. At first, the company priced the knobs at about $20 each, but they were not selling. Realizing they'd overpriced the product, in January they began selling knobs for $12 wholesale. "Dropping the price really made a difference for customers," said Julie Garland, of Bath-based Midcoast Marble and Granite, who has displays of the knobs in her warehouse. Since January, she's sold knobs to three customers, which translates to about 20 to 30 knobs per kitchen.
Another challenge the company faced was finding an effective way to advertise. "Advertising is very expensive for us," Elkin said. "Because this is a high-end product, the places we have to do our advertising are high cost."
So instead of placing ads in outlets like Architectural Digest, Martha Stewart Living or Better Homes and Gardens, the company has taken a different route to getting the word out: Mainely Knobs targets stone fabricators, kitchen designers and cabinet-makers rather than individual buyers, and provides them displays with samples of their knobs. The idea, according to Elkin, is that allowing homeowners to see the knobs when picking out the stone for their countertops will create early interest in having matching pieces. "We like to think of it as saying, do you want fries with that stone countertop?" said Elkin.
So far, Mainely Knobs has displays in about 250 showrooms across Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where they're counting on homeowners to continue to view granite countertops as an essential feature in new homes or remodeled kitchens. Garland of Midcoast Granite called the spike in granite sales she's experienced in the past year a "big bang." And Peggy Higgins, an interior designer at Park Row Interiors in Brunswick, has seen a heightened interest in using stone for kitchen design during the past 10 years.
Whether or not this interest in stone will continue is up for debate. Higgins believes there's a "timeless" appeal to granite, but also points out that kitchen remodeling has always been hostage to trends. She says many in the kitchen design industry wonder whether they "will look at the late 90s and early part of the 2000s as the years of granite."
Though Elkin acknowledges trends in the industry can come and go, she isn't worrying about stone going out of style. The strong interest in kitchen remodeling is likely not to change any time soon either, according to industry experts. Higgins notes that kitchens have always been popular to remodel because the repairs often raise the value of the house. Lapides of the National Association of Home Builders agrees, predicting a strong kitchen remodeling market for the next 10 years.
Aside from changing demands for stone countertops and kitchen remodeling, Mainely Knobs' success will in the end hinge on one question: Do people really want to match their kitchen countertop with their kitchen knobs? Elkin believes the knobs have a strong appeal for someone who wants to highlight stone in their kitchen, but the experts have different perspectives.
While Higgins says the knobs have a special appeal for "a client who goes for a simple, clean look" and calls them "a perfect solution for someone who pays attention to detail," she has still not had any customers request the product after seeing them displayed in her office. Garland, on the other hand, thinks the knobs are "absolutely gorgeous" and says in addition to the sets she's sold to customers she's also installed them in her own home to create the kitchen she "had always dreamed of," she says.
Though business has been slow so far ˆ the company averages about three jobs a week ˆ the two are hopeful that the appeal will build over time. Building a new trend in kitchen design comes slowly, they say, but Elkin remains confident. In 10 years, she and Baker want to have an international customer base. And when asked how many knobs Elkin would like to ultimately produce, she answers, "Let's see, if the machine runs 24 hours it can make 300 knobs, and there's seven days in a week ˆ so that's 1,500 knobs a week..."
After two trips to Italy ˆ and 11 months of preparation work ˆ Elkin and her business partner, Ken Baker, last fall opened a company called Mainely Knobs that the pair hope will attract homeowners and kitchen designers with the same design idea Elkin had: The Bath-based outfit creates stone knobs specifically to match kitchen or bath countertops, marble fireplaces and other stone architectural features.
To create a match, the company asks customers to send scraps of stone from their countertop installation or other remodeling project, from which Mainely Knobs then grinds out a set of knobs. Although Elkin and Baker say they weren't looking to start a business, the fact that they couldn't find a company offering the same service showed the pair they might have discovered a niche. "I was absolutely shocked that custom-made stone knobs were not available," Elkin says. "All that other companies offered were knobs cut in squares or triangles. That is not design, that's what you learn in kindergarten, what you do in play dough."
Elkin and Baker hope to capitalize on this gap in the market, along with the continued surge in interest for kitchen remodeling. Jim Lapides, a communications manager at the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C., says kitchen remodeling in this country has jumped from a $2.7 billion business in 2001 to $12.4 billion in 2005. And stone appears to be the material of choice in many of those remodeling jobs. Donato Pompo of California-based Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants says consumption of stone in the United States has grown an average of 15% each year since 1998.
Carol Bartlett, a certified kitchen designer for the past 25 years who works at Brunswick-based Down East Building Supply, says the interest in kitchen design has been steady in Maine. And as part of that trend, customers are more particular about the details such as countertops and knobs. "People are more aware of what is available" these days, she says, and want their kitchens "new and bright."
But even though it seems like a simple idea ˆ granite countertops are popular, ergo granite knobs should sell well ˆ Elkins and Baker found that creating their custom knob company was far from simple. First, they had to figure out what machinery was needed to create stone knobs. Then, they had to figure out the best way to introduce the product to the high-end kitchen design industry.
A handle on the business
Besides creating a business plan, one of the first challenges for Elkin and Baker was finding a machine to create stone knobs. "People in the stone business didn't believe we could do this," Elkin says. "They had never heard of anything like it."
She looked around the world for the right equipment before finding what she needed in the little town of Carrara, Italy (where much of the marble used by Michelangelo came from). Elkin and Baker set out for Carrara in 2005 to meet with Franco Baccheiri, a man who creates stone-cutting machinery. After a meeting, Baccheiri agreed to make two machines needed to cut their custom knobs. On a second trip, they packed the 2,800 pounds of equipment in a 20-foot crate and sent it on a six-month journey by boat to Maine.
With $800,000 worth of machinery in hand, the two went to the task of setting up operations at home. They decided to run the business out of Bath because of its proximity to their homes. They leased space, bought insurance and started to build a customer base of kitchen designers and home-fixture showrooms by phone. Susan designed their first knob model, naming it the "Sasanoa" after the nearby Sasanoa River.
While the two hope to introduce more styles by next year ˆ naming each model after a Maine river ˆ their ability to do so depends on whether they can afford the $4,000 cutter head needed for each new model. And that depends on business. It took a while for the two to find the right price for their product, Elkin admits. At first, the company priced the knobs at about $20 each, but they were not selling. Realizing they'd overpriced the product, in January they began selling knobs for $12 wholesale. "Dropping the price really made a difference for customers," said Julie Garland, of Bath-based Midcoast Marble and Granite, who has displays of the knobs in her warehouse. Since January, she's sold knobs to three customers, which translates to about 20 to 30 knobs per kitchen.
Another challenge the company faced was finding an effective way to advertise. "Advertising is very expensive for us," Elkin said. "Because this is a high-end product, the places we have to do our advertising are high cost."
So instead of placing ads in outlets like Architectural Digest, Martha Stewart Living or Better Homes and Gardens, the company has taken a different route to getting the word out: Mainely Knobs targets stone fabricators, kitchen designers and cabinet-makers rather than individual buyers, and provides them displays with samples of their knobs. The idea, according to Elkin, is that allowing homeowners to see the knobs when picking out the stone for their countertops will create early interest in having matching pieces. "We like to think of it as saying, do you want fries with that stone countertop?" said Elkin.
So far, Mainely Knobs has displays in about 250 showrooms across Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where they're counting on homeowners to continue to view granite countertops as an essential feature in new homes or remodeled kitchens. Garland of Midcoast Granite called the spike in granite sales she's experienced in the past year a "big bang." And Peggy Higgins, an interior designer at Park Row Interiors in Brunswick, has seen a heightened interest in using stone for kitchen design during the past 10 years.
Whether or not this interest in stone will continue is up for debate. Higgins believes there's a "timeless" appeal to granite, but also points out that kitchen remodeling has always been hostage to trends. She says many in the kitchen design industry wonder whether they "will look at the late 90s and early part of the 2000s as the years of granite."
Though Elkin acknowledges trends in the industry can come and go, she isn't worrying about stone going out of style. The strong interest in kitchen remodeling is likely not to change any time soon either, according to industry experts. Higgins notes that kitchens have always been popular to remodel because the repairs often raise the value of the house. Lapides of the National Association of Home Builders agrees, predicting a strong kitchen remodeling market for the next 10 years.
Aside from changing demands for stone countertops and kitchen remodeling, Mainely Knobs' success will in the end hinge on one question: Do people really want to match their kitchen countertop with their kitchen knobs? Elkin believes the knobs have a strong appeal for someone who wants to highlight stone in their kitchen, but the experts have different perspectives.
While Higgins says the knobs have a special appeal for "a client who goes for a simple, clean look" and calls them "a perfect solution for someone who pays attention to detail," she has still not had any customers request the product after seeing them displayed in her office. Garland, on the other hand, thinks the knobs are "absolutely gorgeous" and says in addition to the sets she's sold to customers she's also installed them in her own home to create the kitchen she "had always dreamed of," she says.
Though business has been slow so far ˆ the company averages about three jobs a week ˆ the two are hopeful that the appeal will build over time. Building a new trend in kitchen design comes slowly, they say, but Elkin remains confident. In 10 years, she and Baker want to have an international customer base. And when asked how many knobs Elkin would like to ultimately produce, she answers, "Let's see, if the machine runs 24 hours it can make 300 knobs, and there's seven days in a week ˆ so that's 1,500 knobs a week..."
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