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Bathroom design “from jeans to dinner jacket”

Gary Dart, General Manager Duravit UK and Australasia
 
Duravit bathroom products are being marketed successfully in over 90 countries worldwide. Now the bathroom supplier, based in Hornberg in the Black Forest, Germany, is going a step further and is setting up its own subsidiary in Australia on 1st February 2010. The new trading base will underpin the successful expansion of the business and is expected to increase levels of brand acceptance significantly. Duravit Australia will handle all sales and marketing activities and provide blanket coverage of the Australasian market including a full in-house and field sales team and a project consultant.
 
Offering the whole product range
 
Duravit aims to combine international marketing activities with the specific needs of Australian people. “We offer the entire product range here,” reports Franz Kook, chairman of the board of Duravit AG. With sanitary ceramics, bathroom furniture and the Baths + Wellbeing segment, Duravit covers all aspects of bathroom furnishing. “As a full-line manufacturer we offer a more diverse product range than practically any other sanitaryware manufacturer,” says Kook. Correspondingly the products range from the low-priced Euroline through the mid-priced Profiline to the higher-priced Studioline - from simple forms to the designer bathroom by Philippe Starck. Franz Kook: “True to our motto of ‘bathroom design from jeans to dinner-jacket’ we cater for all budgets and lifestyles.
 
New warehouse and logistics centre
 
In order to support activities in Australia, Duravit has also set up a new warehouse and logistics centre. The customer thus benefits from the shortest possible delivery times and the rapid availability of the entire range. As retail and trade partner, Duravit will give its Australian customers and partners comprehensive, professional support when selling, marketing, planning and installing Duravit products. “The support we have received from the market enables us to make further investments in our new office, as well as our sales, marketing and logistics infrastructure. This secures the availability of Duravit products in Australia and the further development of our Duravit customer service”, states Gary Dart, General Manager Duravit UK and Australasia.
 
Personal all-round service and training
 
Customers all over the world think that Duravit is synonymous with innovative and high-quality bathroom products. This includes that the product-related service must be of high quality. Gary Dart: “We want to accompany the products on their journey from Duravit to the bathroom professional with friendly and comprehensive service structure. Whether retail or trade partner, architect or planner, all of them will benefit from personal support from the Duravit Team Australia.” In addition, the new office in Sydney serves as a training location, not only for product trainings but also as a support for planners and architects.  


About Duravit

Duravit is a leading manufacturer of complete bathroom solutions with a wide choice of mainly contemporary ceramic sanitaryware, bathroom furniture, accessories, bath tubs, shower trays and wellbeing systems for dream bathrooms as well as products for the public and semi-public sectors.
Duravit’s history began more than 190 years ago with a small factory in Hornberg in the Black Forest, Germany, for the production of earthenware crockery and, from the turn of the 20th century, also sanitaryware. Since then, Duravit has been committed exclusively to “Living bathrooms” and, today, covers the whole spectrum of bathroom interiors. The bathroom manufacturer today has a workforce of more than 5,300 employees world-wide and manufactures at 10 production sites in 7 countries. The Duravit designer brand is exported today to over 90 countries where the idea of "Living Bathrooms" is translated into tangible reality. Duravit has sales offices in more than 25 countries on all continents.

Today, the company is well-known for high quality production and award-winning design. Since the early 80s, it has been working with international talents und the brand has become a trendsetter for innovative bathroom design. Thanks to close and long-standing partnerships, the names Sieger Design and Philippe Starck have become firmly associated with the Duravit brand. The collaboration with Philippe Starck started in 1992. Today, his creations are still regarded as milestones that have revolutionised the sanitaryware sector. Duravit’s design partners also include Michael Graves, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Phoenix Design, James Irvine, Lord Norman Foster, Frank Huster and Herbert Schultes. However, Duravit is also looking to new names. EOOS, for example, has set new standards with the Inipi sauna and the Sundeck whirltub and pool. In collaboration with its designers, Duravit has set a tremendous development pace and has been recognised with numerous national and international design awards.

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