Bowls & Bidets

Americans are familiar with the wide range of tableware products from Villeroy & Boch, but they're much less likely to know that the German manufacturer also produces toilets, lavatories, tubs, and ceramic tiles. However, that may change if Janez Meznarsic has his way. Last March, he and his business partner, Thomas Nagode, opened the country's first My House of Villeroy & Boch store in Dania Beach, Florida, midway between Miami and Palm Beach. The 5,600-square-foot emporium features 900 square feet of dinnerware and gift displays and a perimeter of 28 bathroom vignettes with names like Electra, Palazzo Vecchio, and Collection Century that reflect their design style.

Both retailers, natives of Slovenia, have extensive experience with V&B. Meznarsic worked in one of its company-owned tableware stores in Pompano Beach, Florida, and in the Old Country, Nagode teamed up with V&B in 1999 to open a My House of Villeroy & Boch in the former Yugoslavia; before long he had seven such stores operating in the small country. While the pair doesn't have exclusive distribution rights for Villeroy & Boch in America, they do have a strong relationship with the company, built on trust.

My House of Villeroy & Boch is located in a strip mall on the opposite side of Interstate 95 from DCOTA (Design Center of the Americas), the home furnishings mart. The area is home to a number of furnishings and design businesses catering to residents of Florida's Gold Coast.

While presenting tableware and bath fixtures in the same retail environment may not be unusual in Europe, it certainly is in America, and it met with skepticism from the V&B tableware division. It has also met with a little hesitancy on the part of consumers, according to Meznarsic.

"The concept is advanced for America," he says. "There is no Villeroy & Boch name recognition in bath fixtures here. We are going in the right direction, but it is taking more time than we thought."

Rather than interior designers who tend to look at bathroom design as a job for plumbers, the target audience is homeowners. That's fine with Meznarsic, who'd rather just avoid the markups. Instead, My House employs its own designer, who works with customers on the details of tile work, bath fixtures, and hardware.

"Product knowledge is what can make you or break you," says Meznarsic. "Our staff is at the top of their game in every respect." In addition to V&B bath products, the store also sells fittings by top-of-the line German manufacturers such as Dornbracht and Hansgrohe.

To reach homeowners, Meznarsic and Nagode rely on a number of promotions, including regular postcard mailings offering special prices on select items. Once a month, up to 15 clients and potential customers are invited to an in-store cooking event, where local chef Eleanor Hoh offers her "Easy Style Cooking with an Asian Flair" demonstrations. The V&B tableware, of course, plays a prominent role in these events. And last month, My House of Villeroy & Boch hosted a guest appearance by company spokesperson and eighth generation family member Isabelle von Boch.

Once Meznarsic and Nagode have turned their Dania Beach store into a stable success, they plan to explore markets in the Northeast, the Midwest, and on the West Coast for future My House of Villeroy & Boch stores.

"We have no competition," Meznarsic says. "What we are offering here is something quite unique."