New era for Renovator's Supply: Building supplier looks to team up with other businesses in shifting economy

[ Originally published on: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 ]

ERVING -- A lot has changed since 1978 when Claude Jeanloz started making reproduction antique hardware, plumbing and lighting fixtures in his home.

At its peak, his company, Renovator's Supply, was making 85 percent of its line of plumbing fixtures, hardware and lighting at the former Millers Falls Tool Co. plant in Ervingside. During that boom, Renovator's had 17 retail stores in Massachusetts (including one on Bridge Street in Millers Falls), New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, Jeanloz said.

At one point, Renovator's was also manufacturing in Europe, South American and Asia.

Now, about 90 percent of its products are made in China and all the retail stores have closed. Most of the sales are through catalog or the Internet to contractors and individual customers in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Renovator's still has the old mill in Ervingside, but now that nearly all the manufacturing is gone; it's only using about half of about the 200,000 square feet. The company wants to fill the vacant space with offices and warehouse tenants, and it's offering its services running and managing warehouse space as well as its experience doing business in China.

These offerings are part of an effort to adapt to a changing economy, which has brought a slowdown in sales, Jeanloz said.

Although most business for Renovator's is down, people making big orders, of $10,000 or more, 'are spending more then ever,' said Jeanloz.

Renovators sells a copper-plated front door for $10,000 and sells some individual items that cost even more, he said. 'You see (the doors) on the front of old banks and some people are using them for front doors on their McMansions.'

The increase in the high-end market, however, is not enough to make up for the drop in most of Renovators' business, where people spend only a few hundred dollars per order, Jeanloz said.

China

Jeanloz spends two weeks each month in China, splitting his time between Renovator's Supply's three offices in Shanghai, Beijing and in the Guangdong Province, and the 66 different factories where Renovator's product line is made.

That experience, he says, means there are a couple of ways he can help those looking to start doing business in China or already doing business there.

'What I really want to do is leverage our contacts and our knowledge of China,' Jeanloz said. 'I can go into a manufacturer and tell if it can do (a job) or not.' Jeanloz said he's had calls from businesses in China looking for help securing deals in their own country.

If a company here in the states wants to order something from China, but it isn't enough to fill a shipping container, Renovators will package it with its own stuff or with other companies' goods to save on shipping costs, said Jeanloz.

'Our containers are sealed from China to here. They don't get touched until they're here (in Erving).'

Warehouse knowledge

Also, some smaller companies don't have the money to hire warehouse staff, said Jeanloz.

'If you're only receiving a few shipments a day or a week, you can't afford full-time staff.' Renovator's can be the one to receive the shipment, repackage it, store it and then ship it where it needs to reach its final destination, he said.

Renovator's can also help other companies make better use of their space and be more efficient, Jeanloz said.

The mill in Ervingside was built in 1875 and was Millers Falls Co. until 1975. The complex then served as a college book press and a book storage facility for a while. Renovators bought the mill in 1982.

Filling the building will help keep down the costs of maintaining the property, said Jeanloz.

'If you don't use old mills, you can see what's happened to other mills,' he said, pointing to the old International Paper Mill, just down the road in Ervingside where people broke in and stole copper wiring, the abandoned Usher Mill, which was the victim of arson last summer, or the former Strathmore Paper Mill, which was also the victim of arson.

Renovator's has always leased out space, but it's being more aggressive about marketing its space and services, he said.

Tenants get heat and electricity included in rent, they have a chance to get high-speed Internet through a T-1 line for $25 a month and they have a chance to pay for shared office services like copying, faxing and e-mailing services.

Renovator's is trying to distinguish itself by being flexible, doing things like not requiring a lease and allowing tenants to change how much space they're renting on a monthly basis.

'It's the flexibility and the cost savings that make this place attractive to people,' Jeanloz said.

That flexibility is key for a business to survive in these economic times, he said.

You can reach Arn Albertini at: aalberti@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 264

 

---