Thursday, April 18, 2013
Spring Home & Garden
Not just plumbing supply ... Wowing customers at WaterSpot stores includes not only smiling, courteous salespeople, but also a surprisingly diverse selection of products and customer service excellence. Ardente Supply, one of the oldest Rhode Island plumbing, heating, cooling and industrial suppliers, applies this formula to all five of its WaterSpot showrooms. Its experience so far has been vastly positive, evidenced by the fact that WaterSpot locations in Rhode Island — Providence, Westerly and Woonsocket were recently joined in 2009 by WaterSpot in Natick, MA and the brand new Boston Design Center location. This success is not pure luck. Ardente’s WaterSpot Showrooms are the destination stop serving homeowners, contractors, designers, architects and engineers. Elegantly appointed, the showrooms display thousands of European and American high-end designer brands along
with selections for more modest budgets. The success of WaterSpot is attributed to offering a vibrant, visual and tactile environment that inspires creative design ideas. Customers experience an open and spacious layout with strategic ally positioned free-flowing product displays. The selections can visually breathe while not crowding each other. The stores feature products from more than 70 leading brands. Customers can find sinks, tubs, faucets, whirlpools, saunas, vanities, shower systems, door pulls and locks, towel racks, soap dishes and lighting. Visitors are offered planning and design assistance, and customers often leave the store with a solution to meet their needs. Every customer interaction is completed with a handshake during which a showroom associate thanks customers for their business. Coupled with a distinct WaterSpot ambience, this gesture is part of the WaterSpot brand that Ardente Supply has been carefully crafting in its stores. “We don’t allow showrooms to show product brands,” relates co-owner Paul Ardente. “From the very beginning, we wanted to create a separate WaterSpot brand that has its own signature style of tastefully done showrooms, all with the same look and feel.” The commitment to keeping products in the showrooms fresh also helps to keep the WaterSpot brand alive and kicking. The Ardentes are constantly traveling and searching for new and innovative designs. All new product selec-
tions are reviewed and decisions are made about what additions to add to the product mix. New England has a large traditional market, but WaterSpot maintains a good balance of different styles, catering to a variety of tastes. Products on the showroom floor are constantly rotated and refreshed, and showroom vignettes are changed at least once a year. The Ardente brothers — Mark, Paul, Evan and Bruce — are the company’s co-owners. They represent the third generation of the Ardente family running the firm started in the early 1940s by Raymond Ardente, Sr., an Italian immigrant, as are many Westerly residents. Branching into the showroom business has been the latest successful enterprise by Ardente Suppy, which is proud of the fact that it is expanding when many competitors are consolidating. The Ardente’s inspiration to advance their business comes from learning about new product and industry trends. “We always strive to bring new ideas to the table,” says Bruce, the Ardente brother in charge of the Westerly store. The Ardentes are also a huge proponent of training. The WaterSpot staff is well-versed in the nuances of different manufacturers’ brands and products and can handle any customer request competently. Many times a WaterSpot location is used for best practice seminars or to showcase the latest trend offerings from manufacturers. Many customers are pleasantly surprised to see
9
the sheer number of products offered at WaterSpot.”It’s not only plumbing and bath fixtures,” says Kathleen Hobe, longtime sales consultant in Westerly. “We have one of the largest decorative lighting selections in the area, as well as hardware and accessories.” Not only that, the Westerly location serves northern Connecticut and Block Island residents also. “We make frequent deliveries to Block Island, and having lived on the island for years, I have a good idea what styles locals are looking for. We’ll even pick you up at the airport if you fly in to shop! Not many stores show that kind of attention and service.” “We don’t have a lot of drive-by traffic, so it’s definitely a destination stop,” says co-owner Bruce Ardente. “It’s very convenient to get here once people know where we are.” WaterSpot Westerly is located behind the Westerly Airport at 79A Tom Harvey Road. At the intersection of Route 1 and Airport Road, turn onto Airport Road and take a left on Tom Harvey Road. Just a short distance you’ll see the Ardente/WaterSpot sign on the left. The Ardente brothers are proud of their thriving business and of WaterSpot showrooms. They have a healthy appetite for further expansion and growth. “What we do is what everyone else does, but we do it a little better,” shares coowner Paul Ardente, “So why can’t we have WaterSpots all over the country?” ■
Eco-conscious ways to tend to your lawn Many homeowners are constantly on the lookout for ways to make their homes more environmentally friendly. Such a pursuit is both noble because it helps the environment and practical because it often saves money. While there are many eco-friendly improvements homeowners make inside their homes, it’s important to note that there are several ways for men and women to be more environmentally conscious outside of their homes as well. Lawn care can be done in a way that’s conscious of the environment, and the results can be just as appealing as if the lawn were tended to without regard for the planet. The following are just a few of the many ways homeowners can adopt more eco-friendly practices when tending to their lawns.
A push mower that does not rely on gas to work is one way homeowners can take a more eco-friendly approach to lawn care.
• Be conscientious when watering. Overwatering a lawn is pretty common, especially during the dog days of summer, when homeowners try to overcompensate for hot days with excessive watering. The growth of moss on sidewalks or the driveway is a telltale sign that you’re watering too See Lawn, page 19