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2 | Vanico Maronyx
Vanico-Maronyx is a leader in the industry of allinclusive bathroom design, and has a reputation
that reflects that. Their mission is to create a variety of bathroom components – from bathtubs to
showers, sinks and furniture – that fit together
in perfect harmony to create a unified whole.
Even today, Vanico-Maronyx continues to make
advances in this concept, setting themselves further and further apart from their competitors.
To do this, they draw on the experience and expertise in the industry they have developed over
their 30-plus year history.
That history began in 1980, when Vanico –
a manufacturing specialist, and one half of the
merger that created Vanico-Maronyx – was
founded under the name Créations Décor-Bois
du Québec. From the very beginning, that company adopted an innovative approach to bathroom furnishing by integrating lighting, mirrors
and medicine cabinets with the sink module.
Meanwhile, in the same period, Maronyx was
developing an expertise in the manufacture of
bathroom fixtures and luxurious polymer vanity
countertops.
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Charles-Antoine Gauvreau is Vice-President
of Sales for Vanico-Maronyx, and his father
was the founder of Vanico. He recalls the beginnings of each company, when both were
only selling locally in Montreal, and his father wanted a project that could penetrate
additional markets. At the time, Vanico was
selling kitchen fixtures as well. “When you
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decide to make that kind of move, you have
to decide if you want to be a specialist in the
kitchen, or a specialist in the bathroom,”
Gauvreau says.
Because most retail stores would sell either bathroom or kitchen cabinets – but not
both – and because the kitchen market was
more saturated, they went with the bath-
and coming up with new designs,” Gauvreau
recounts. From then on, the two companies
developed together, and at the start of the
new millennium they officially merged. A
couple years later, Gauvreau’s father bought
the Maronyx shares and become the sole
owner – until Gauvreau himself, along with
two partners, bought their own shares last
year.
PERSONALIZATION
At Vanico-Maronyx, the goal is not only to
create progressive bathrooms, but highly
personalized ones as well – and they have
the manufacturing infrastructure that allows
them to do that. In using Vanico-Maronyx,
customers can edit their bathroom to suit
room. After making that call in 1991, the
two companies combined their knowledge
to develop a new line of all-inclusive furniture with innovative forms – integrating the
countertop made by Maronyx with the cabinet by Vanico.
“Instead of only selling countertops and
only selling cabinets, we started doing both,
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their needs and decor. Gauvreau says there are almost limitless possibilities of styles, finishes, colors,
modular layouts and sizes.
The company has a large selection of products, all
created at their one manufacturing plant in Montreal. That facility has three divisions – one for
cabinets, another for polymer products, and a final
one for countertops. “We’re producing everything
here,” Gauvreau says. “We control the deadlines,
we’re scheduling everything. That’s what people like
about us.”
“People don’t need to order the cabinets from
one company, the countertop from another and the
sinks from another one after that,” he continues.
“They place one order with us. We’ll give them an
expected delivery date, and it’s all going to come
together in one shipment. They don’t need to deal
with different suppliers, it’s all one stop shopping.”
Vanico-Maronyx’s products are sold locally in
Montreal, where the company has 30 dealers placed.
They also operate in the Ontario market with the
same number of dealers – they started selling there
in 1995, and Gauvreau says that business has really
taken off.
They also have a presence in the United States,
with roughly 125 dealers covering coast to coast.
The Florida market opened in 1996, and their
northeast-American operations started in 1999, and
both regions have been good sellers. The west coast
of America came later, in 2008, and is a market they
are still developing. Finally, they have also breached
the west coast of Canada and the market there has
been on the rise for the last year and a half.
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Internally, Vanico-Maronyx has roughly
85 employees, all of whom own a part of
the company – so they literally feel a sense
of ownership. “That makes the culture quite
different than it is in many other companies,”
Gauvreau explains. When it comes to being
creative or cutting costs, or being more efficient, employees are proactive. “If we need
some overtime, instead of saying ‘I’m not
available, hire somebody else’ they are happy
to help,” he says.
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“When we have production meetings to
help resolve situations and try to meet our
production numbers, the employees are all
very involved,” he adds. Every year the company shares their financial statements with
their employees, and also explains them, so
they can demonstrate to the employees the
impact of their decisions. “When we need
their support, all we need to do is explain
things.”
As the company moves into the future,
Gauvreau says they will be evolving with the
market. Whereas five or six years ago, most
of their projects were styled traditionally,
these days they are contemporary and more
diversified. Also, while they used to focus on
the middle-to-high end of project ranges,
that focus has expanded. They have recently
divided their ranges into three classifications
– they now have an Express, a Selection, and
a higher-end Distinction range.
In general, he says their branding has been
successful, and as time goes on they are becoming more and more known. That pattern will continue – over the next five years,
Gauvreau estimates they will not only be
known for cabinets but for bathrooms as a
whole. As they expand their dealership base
in Western Canada, and set their sights on
entering Europe and the Middle East, he
says they will only grow more progressive
and more popular.
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