Watch the Video on Green Kitchens & Baths (NKBA – Suzie Williford)
NATIONAL KITCHEN & BATH ASSOCIATION INTERVIEW
HOST: Susan, tell us about your organization and some of the events that you guys have planned.
SUSAN: Well, it's the National Kitchen and Bath Association, and we're headquartered in Hacketstown, New Jersey. What's very exciting is our Kitchen and Bath Show, which is KBIS, the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show is going to be the year, April the tenth through the thirteenth in Chicago. We're very excited about that. (HOST: Wow!
HOST: Sounds great. I'm a builder. I've talked about some remodeling issues, and typically kitchens and baths are the top-remodeling project, and what do you see as being some of those projects, too? Is it still kitchen and baths?
SUSAN: Well, because of the fact that they retain so much of the money that you put into them, as in value to give back, (HOST: Right. Exactly.) when you sell your home, kitchen and bath is, of course, the biggest -- although there's a great movement towards the outdoor kitchen. And they're designing cabinets and special appliances, and people are entertaining out there, including winecenters and everything else.
HOST: That's nice. And I know we, our company is also building these outdoor kitchens. And they're great entertainment areas. We're all talking about green building. Is kitchen and bath industry starting a new initiative -- or what are they doing with green building?
SUSAN: We are looking at initiatives at this point. We have not started ours completely. We're reviewing what's out there and trying to make a decision that after the research is in that we feel comfortable about. What's interesting is that a lot of the people that we do deal with, and manufacturers that we sell, they're already having green initiatives. So, we can visit with that.
HOST: Right. And I found out you know in my kitchen appliances that I use, most of those guys have been way ahead of -- ahead of the curve in looking at low-water usage, low-energy usage. So they're already involved in green. So you guys may not have so much work to do.
SUSAN: Well, that would be nice. I think that environmental responsibility of the green is a wonderful thing, and I think everybody's on board with it.
HOST: And tell us one more time -- when is the Kitchen and Bath Show in Chicago?
SUSAN: It's April the tenth through the thirteenth.
HOST: Great. Hope to see you there.
SUSAN: Thank you.
HOST: Tell us some new things that's happening at KBS.
SUSAN: Well, this year at KBIS, we have an expanded and much larger educational format, which will be great for all the professionals in the industry. (HOST: Right.) We have the new-product pavilion, which is always fun for everyone to see what's coming -- (HOST: And we all love to see new products no matter what the industry. [LAUGHS]) Absolutely. And you see some things that are mainstream, but (HOST: Right.) haven't been thought of, and you see some innovative things that you think, why didn't I think of that and then some things you would never thought of. So that's a very fun thing. Thirdly, cabinets in our show are -- They're coming back strong. (HOST: Right.) And we're gonna have a cabinet pavilion to show and manufacture showcase lots of cabinets. And wonderful. And the cabinets that we have are great quality.
HOST: And we were talking earlier about green. You know, we've interviewed some people from the cabinet industry, and they're already ahead of the curve on the green initiatives, too. (SUSAN: Absolutely.) I was really surprised to see that everybody in your industry really has their act together as far as going green. (SUSAN: And the beauty of that -- That's right.) Now the builders are trying to catch up with you.
SUSAN: And the beauty of the cabinet is they're brought in and they're complete so none of that has to be done in the house, which is much more green. (HOST: Less waste.) That's right.
HOST: Great.
SUSAN: Thanks. [END]
Watch the Video on Green Kitchens & Baths (NKBA – Suzie Williford)
| 
