Supplying a more upscale clientele

When Ardente Supply Co. was founded in Providence in 1946, toilets didn’t cost $5,000, as does the Toto Neorest with an automated seat, odor control and built-in bidet. But as the company shifts its focus to a high-end clientele, such are the items it must carry.

The shift began in 2005, when the Providence-based company, owned by four brothers – Mark, Paul, Bruce and Evan Ardente, the third generation of Ardentes since their founding grandfather and great uncles – opened a showroom in Westerly.

With the leap into southern Rhode Island, Ardente increased sales in that region; now about 50 percent of sales come from southern Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut.

“There are very few competitors, in our industry, between New Haven and Providence,” Paul Ardente said. “But in Providence proper, we have a lot. There are probably 10 competitors you could throw a stone to.”

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In 2006, the company continued expanding with the purchase of Boston-based Thompson-Durkee Co. – a 100-year-old plumbing retailer. After that purchase, Ardente used Thompson-Durkee’s retail name, WaterSpot, to rebrand its Westerly and Providence showrooms. The brothers also kept the former Thompson-Durkee WaterSpot in Framingham.

Changing the name of the Rhode Island storefronts was a tough decision, said Paul Ardente.

“Our goal is to cater toward the higher-end, higher gross-profit items, and we felt that, although Ardente is a name synonymous with plumbing in Rhode Island, in Boston nobody really knows who the Ardentes are,” said Paul Ardente. “So we decided to rebrand the showrooms and create a more upscale environment.”

Since the acquisition last October, retail sales have increased by about 65 percent and Ardente has added 12 employees – for a total of 44, said Mark Ardente.

Some of Ardente’s retail products have trended toward the high end, but others have changed in a different way during the past year – they’ve become more environmentally friendly.

“That’s changed more in the past 12 months, I’d say, than it has in the past 10 years,” said Paul Ardente. “For example, two of the lines we carry – Toto and Villeroy & Boch – both manufacture dual-flush toilets that have two buttons on top – one for solids and one for liquids.”

For Ardente, though, both greener and more upscale products are draws for customers in Boston and Providence areas – but those customers want to shop in a comfortable environment. That is why the company’s rebranding and refocusing are so well intertwined, said Paul Ardente.

“They’re the Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom-type shoppers. You’ve got to create an environment that makes them feel welcomed and warm – a memorable experience. Make it a destination,” said Paul Ardente.

The recent growth of Ardente has also gotten a boost from the state through the Rhode Builder program at Roger Williams University.

“Gov. [Donald L.] Carcieri looked around and said, ‘OK, we’re doing a lot for the people coming in, but what are we doing for the businesses already here, to get them to the next level?’ ” said Paul Ardente. “So the R.I. Small Business Association put together a program and solicited a bunch of family-owned companies.”

Five Rhode Island companies participated for nearly a year, meeting periodically to share their business models. From those meetings, the Ardentes formed a plan for the company’s future – including the purchase of Thompson-Durkee and the refocusing toward an upscale market.

“At that time, we didn’t really know in what direction we were headed. We didn’t really have a strategy in place,” said Mark Ardente. “This forced us to sit down and look at our customers and what we potentially wanted in customers.”

The strategy the brothers have developed will require a new approach to retail sales. Ardente started on Atwells Avenue in 1946 – during the post-World War II housing boom – and has been on Valley Street in Providence since 1955; that’s where it opened the first kitchen and bath showroom in New England. But now, other locations will be increasingly important.

“The business plan is to create the same showroom, higher luxury type of business, and to actually create more satellite showrooms throughout New England,” said Mark Ardente. “And to maintain our existing footprint in the industrial commercial market as well.” •

Company Profile: Ardente Supply Co.

Owners: Mark, Paul, Bruce and Evan Ardente

Type of business: Plumbing, heating, cooling and industrial supplies seller

Location: Home office at 404 Valley St., Providence, plus showrooms in Westerly and Framingham

Number of Employees: 44

Year established: 1946

Annual Revenue: WND

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