Do what you know, really, really well.
“Working with ROHL is like working with friends,” said Eric Locke, Owner and President of Decorative Plumbing Distributors. “The Rohl family and I go way back. We both value the importance of building a business based on solid traditions and sticking to what we do well. ROHL understands, as do I, that reliability and consistency are the foundations of a healthy business.”

Eric and Charleen Locke have been running DPD for eleven years. Before he opened DPD, Eric worked with KWC where he first got connected with the Rohls. Eric saw an opportunity to fill a distribution niche that was and is a perfect complement to the ROHL business model. With a 46,000 square foot warehouse in Northern California and a second warehouse facility in Southern California, DPD inventories a number of lines to service over 1,000 smaller kitchen & bath showrooms and plumbing supply dealers nationwide. A combination of five trucks and UPS offers DPD the shipping flexibility their customers need. Working closely with ROHL representatives, the DPD sales organization is able to service smaller showrooms while not competing directly with ROHL as a supplier. It’s a perfect match.

DPD is an excellent example of a value added distributor. They offer display and training programs, special promotional packages, online dealer order access programs as well as basic and advanced plumbing training classes. They host manufacturer specific seminars every quarter. Eric’s philosophy is to know your products well and be sure your customers know you and what you offer. He likes to say “we do plumbing.” He doesn’t do commodity products. He doesn’t do shower enclosures. What he does is offer the best options in the decorative plumbing and fixture category and that’s it.

Like ROHL, DPD respects the importance of marketing. “ROHL is a marketing company. Especially of late, the brand is growing in awareness. Their customer service is excellent. The product lines are outstanding, particularly the traditional items. ROHL does traditional like no one else.” Eric suggests that because of this and the work his organization does, DPD sells more ROHL than any other faucet line. He also values the fact that ROHL offers a complete line of fine products.

Keeping solid traditions alive, knowing what you know and building on excellent relationships are the underlying principles that guide DPD. They are the same for ROHL. It’s no wonder that both have built a tradition of excellence.