I'm like most of you … I love a great success story! This story is about how a friend of mine, who was also a good customer of mine, became a competitor and remained a good friend.
My first career was managing a large plumbing/HVAC wholesale business. In the late 1970s and early 1980s I recognized the need for showrooms to show and sell some of the great-looking, higher-end plumbing products that Kohler, American Standard, Eljer, Delta, Moen and others were coming out with. My first thought was that the plumbing contractors who specialized in residential/custom homes should be the folks who develop these showrooms.