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When Jeff Detrick joined Orgill six years ago, he went on a mission to shift the distributor from being a "vanilla" supplier of plumbing fixtures to one focused on fashion, with a broader assortment of kitchen and bath products in a variety of styles and finishes.
"In the beginning we had no kitchens. We had basic stainless steel sinks and our faucet assortment was primarily chrome, two handles with and without spray. We had a laundry tub and sink. We had a couple different lavatories. And that was basically what the assortment was," said Detrick, Orgill's merchandise manager for plumbing, kitchen and bath.
Orgill wanted to become a more important supplier to large home centers and lumberyards, where there's a demand for bigger remodeling projects like kitchens. To do that, the distributor knew it had to offer a broader and more fashionable assortment of products. Detrick reviewed Orgill's assortment, eliminating duplications to make room for more decor-focused products.
"We've probably got fewer skus in the plumbing department then when I started here," Detrick explained. "Our sku count in parts and pieces probably went down...