  |
||||
      |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
From tubs to tee-offs Kohler, Wisconsin: Population: 2,010. Nearest Pottery Barn: 50 miles away. Located in Sheboygan County, home to half as many dairy cattle as people and headquarters of one of the oldest and largest privately held companies in the nation, Kohler Company. With an eccentric blend of different trades, including plumbing and cabinet design, golf and resort destinations (including the Midwest’s only AAA Five Diamond Resort Hotel), real estate, electrical generators and even a grocery store, Kohler Company is an international business sensation unlike any other. Kohler Company, founded in Sheboygan in 1873, is a family-run business. Plumbing was not always the company’s focus. In fact, Kohler started out as a cast iron and steel plant, manufacturing farm equipment and cemetery ornaments. Kohler did not have anything to do with plumbing until 1883, when founder John Michael Kohler coated a horse trough with enamel, producing the company’s first bathtub. The company then moved to Riverside which would soon become the town of Kohler, taking the namesake of the constantly expanding corporation. Today, the company’s holdings stretch across the globe, with divisions on all five continents. “Kohler Company employs approximately 26,000 people worldwide,” said Brenda Rood, an employee in kitchen and bath public relations division. Leading the industry Kohler is probably most known for its kitchen and bathroom design. From Canada to Costa Rica, Kohler products are everywhere. However, Kohler is not only a world leader in plumbing, Kohler generators and furniture subsidiaries also sit at the top of their class. Kohler’s plumbing designers are some of the best in their field and are always working on something new. One of their newest creations is the Bubble MassageBath, which allows the user to control the intensity and location of the tub’s 120 water jets. Other recent inventions include low-flow toilets that can save a family of four 5,000 gallons of water a year, a quiet-close toilet seat and new, bright colors for their cast iron products. These shades, called Vapour colors, use innovative technology to bring some excitement into bathroom design. The new colors include light blue, green, pink, orange and indigo, and are applied to the cast iron products as enamel, but not in the usual way. “Enamel is a glass material that when handled differently, allows light into the [cast iron] surface,” said Mary Reid, director of concept development. “These five Vapour colors interact with light to bring a rich, deep visual effect to the surface.” Kohler Company is also cutting-edge in cabinet design. Canac, a Kohler subsidiary, follows a unique timeline when developing custom-made kitchen cabinets for consumers. The designers meet with the builders to get a vision for what the project entails. Then, Canac’s designers and builders create kitchen cabinets using already-made modules in combination with individual designs for the specific consumer. Each cabinet is unique, but still based on Canac’s high standards. Canac employs over 1,100 cabinet installers around the US, so every kitchen will have cabinets installed by people who are familiar with Canac’s designs.
|
||
Featured Kohler employee testimonial
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
