KEY POINTS:
Listed plumbing fixtures maker Methven has picked the tough US market to launch a shower head it hopes Americans will view more as beauty product than bathroom fixture.
Until now the Auckland-based company has struggled to get a toehold in the US, but exclusive department chain Barneys has
agreed to stock its Satinjet Maia shower which will retail for around US$400 ($520).
Methven managing director Rick Fala said it had been difficult for Methven to prove its stripes as an unknown in the well-established US market.
The company began distributing its Satinjet shower in the US in April last year, but it took time to build up credibility and prove the company was in for the long haul, Fala said.
The experience had taught Methven that it needed to offer more than just one product, and to target the boutique building and plumbing merchants more than the mainstream ones.
The Maia product was an opportunity to expand Methven's range from bathroomware to beauty, Fala said.
"Our goal is to develop the ultimate showering experience. We thought the Americans would cotton on to the concept of shower-as-beauty routine. Our traditional customers are renovating their houses so we're hoping to develop a whole new clientele."
Methven launched the Satinjet Maia "beauty shower" last week at Manhattan's swanky QT Hotel to a range of glamour and lifestyle magazines.
Rachel Hunter has agreed to be spokeswoman for the product at its official launch in New York in October. Methven had a long-term plan to be a global company, Fala said.
It invested strongly in R&D, spending 5 per cent of turnover and employing 23 engineers, up from "just a couple" when it set up in 1996.
The Satinjet shower extracts chlorine from the water. Its apertures are angled inwards so the streams of water hit each other and break into drops which are softer than straight streams of water. Last year it provided 20 per cent of the company's shower sales in Australia.
The Satinjet Maia provides a facial massage and will eventually be sold with fragrance and essential-oil water infusions which with dechlorination refills will provide ongoing revenue.
Methven has 160 staff in New Zealand, 55 in Australia and four in the US.
Shares in the company closed down 4 cents at $2.40 yesterday, in line with the broader market.