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Face to Face
Listen
Up!
Customer input and technical innovation spells success for
Gould Drapery Hardware.
D&WC: Tell us about your
company.
Richard Holmes, Owner: Founded
in 1872, the Gould Mercereau Co. over the years has provided a full
line of quality drapery hardware to the window treatments industry.
A few years ago, Worldwide Window Treatments, LLC, bought the assets
of Gould Mercereau in order to expand its offering throughout the
United States and abroad. This arrangement provided the opportunity
to create, develop and market the highest quality, most diversified
line of drapery hardware available in the industry.
My background is in engineering with an MBA. Jaime Escobar is an
architect. Gene Carozza is also an engineer with a management MBA.
We worked with then current and prospective clients to produce new
products for the market. We began the transformation of Gould by
traveling around the country to trade shows, conducting client meeting
and speaking with architects and their customers in order to fully
understand what was lacking in the industry and how to best satisfy
that need.
Jaime Escobar, owner:
Our goals and objectives focused on customer relations, product
design, enhancing existing products and quality assurance. The results
are an exceptional array of decorative drapery hardware with furniture-quality
finishes and wood traverse poles that are masterfully engineered
and built by Gould craftsmen.
In addition to our decorative wood drapery hardware, Gould retains
a metal hardware line that includes workroom accessories, aluminum
track (I-beam and Spectrack), 3/8-inch rodding and brass tubing.
In order to satisfy certain customers, Gould has set up a separate
manufacturing operation exclusively for custom finishing. This portion
of the business has grown significantly over the past three years.
This department has developed a line of finishes exclusively for
some of our major retail customers.
D&WC: What are some of
the key factors involved in your growth and success?
Gene Carozza, owner: Gould’s growth and product acceptance
is attributed to hard work on the part of all of our employees.
A team approach has transformed Gould into a customer-oriented business
where all employees understand that customer satisfaction is everyone’s
responsibility.
Customer service, customer input, focus on quality, maintaining
current with industry trends and our newly implemented, Custom Design
Service, are all part of the success of our company.
Just call our toll-free number during business hours and guess what,
one of our courteous and knowledgeable team members will actually
answer the phone and your questions.
We value customer input. Who better knows their needs than the consumer?
For example, prior to releasing our 2005/06 finial line, we polled
many decorators and designers across the county for their comments
and suggestions. We utilized this information to revamp old finials
and add new finials. We learned from this survey that traditional
is still in vogue. Yes, acorn, pineapple and artichoke finials are
still needed to round out a finial line. We also learned that designers
and decorators like to have the same or similar finials sized for
various diameter poles and also that glitzy, museum-type finials
look nice in brochures and on display boards but not necessarily
on customers’ walls.
Quality is an extremely high priority and is a direct result of
our engineering and architectural backgrounds. New products are
tested extensively and all elements of product finishing, packaging
and installation are tested and approved prior to releasing for
sale.
We also stay current with industry trends. We have developed, for
a major company, finishes that coordinate with a particular furniture
or fabric collection. Our finishes feature many wood stains that
complement the furniture, fabric and trim in any home and sell very
well. Gould is one of the few manufacturers to offer a wide variety
of stain finishes in addition to our solid and faux finishes. Our
custom finishing capability allows us to meet a particular demand
from a discerning customer that needs a specific finish.
As a special service, Gould works with unique applications such
as complex window configurations and window treatments providing
design assistance and layouts to solve unusual requirements. These
involve individual window treatments as well as large-scale projects.
An example might be a layout for a double-bay window traverse or
an exceptionally long traverse pole assembled with a Gould engineered
exclusive joiner bracket, or traverse pole with multiple draw arrangements
on the same pole.
This service is an important part of our business because we believe
that our customers should never have to settle for off-the-shelf,
common drapery hardware. This service allows designers and decorators
to create the ultimate window treatments for their clients.
D&WC: What one product
or line stands out above the rest?
Holmes: Functional
wood traverse poles are Gould’s signature item. Gould introduced
wood traverse poles to the window treatment industry more than 35
years ago. At that time all that Gould offered was a 1 3/8-inch
diameter pole with rings and simple finials. All that has changed.
The Gould traverse pole design is unique in the industry and is
a defining product in the Gould line. Gould traverse poles have
several distinguishing features. The Gould traverse is a well-engineered
full-round pole with an embedded color coordinated track and large
diameter wood rings. Each traverse pole is hand crafted like fine
furniture and is custom built to the customer’s specifications.
Virtually every conceivable window can be treated with Gould traverse
poles including bay and bow windows. Proprietary pulleys and ring
slides ensure long-term reliability and ease of operation. Traversing
poles are tested extensively for reliability, functionality and
ease of use.
Gould traverse poles are available in 20 furniture quality wood
finishes that include beautiful wood stains and in custom finishes.
Four pole diameters are offered in smooth, reeded and even rope
twist and in single-, double-and bay window configurations with
either rings or carriers. Most pleasing to the customer is that
Gould traverse poles are also priced remarkably well, oftentimes
lower than traverse poles with lesser features.
Decorative wood products have been the growth area since 1997 and
Gould is well positioned to serve this market by offering basic
to high-end products at affordable pricing. As mentioned previously,
market feedback is an important element in product inspiration and
design, but we also maintain constant communications with installers
in order to ensure that our products are installer-friendly. The
emphasis is to constantly evolve through continuous improvement
efforts and provide the best value for the customer.
Gould maximizes the control of quality and low cost by maintaining
the ability to manufacture most of our products in our New York
factory. An extensive supplier base has been developed but we can
produce all finishes and intricate finials in-house.
D&WC: Do you work through
distributors or sell direct to the retailer?
Holmes: Gould sells
its products primarily through distributors and select high-end
retail stores. Products are displayed on the Gould Web site, www.wwtgould.com.
Just visit our site to see an operating wood traverse pole.
D&WC: What distinguishes
you from the competition?
Holmes: Gould’s
customers know that they can achieve almost any treatment that they
can envision with our wide choice of popular finishes and designs,
readily available technical assistance, custom design services,
well-engineered products and competitive pricing.
Gould Drapery Hardware
840 Barry St.
Bronx, NY 10474
(800) 223-8990
(718) 893-9370
fax: (718) 893-4788
e-mail: wwtgould@aol.com.
www.wwtgould.com
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