Hot product: Natural Knobs - Brief Article

Home Channel News, April 16, 2001

Julie and Warren Chin, owners of a specialty manufacturing business and a retail showroom both named Natural Knobs Inc., are trying to turn a functional afterthought into a centerpiece of kitchen and bath cabinet design.

The wife and husband team has developed an extensive line of kitchen and bath cabinet knobs crafted from semi-precious stones such as turquoise, quartz and jade. The knobs are built in common shapes -- round and oval -- or into then naturally shaped form of precious stones.

Created to be customized, attention-catching accessories, the knobs are not cheap. Natural Knobs average around $14 or $15 per piece but can run as high as $85 each for ruby or emerald knobs. While the company uses genuine stones to build the knobs, they are not gem-quality emeralds or rubies.

Natural Knobs can be found in approximately 430 retail locations nationwide, including several home centers and hardware stores. The Cape Cod, Mass.-based chain Mid-Cape Home Centers carries an assortment of the kitchen and bath knobs, as do independents Clement Hardware, in Severna Park, Md., and Silver Star Hardware, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Company vp Warren Chin said Natural Knobs also does a brisk business with kitchen and bath and interior design centers because the clientele is generally more receptive to an upscale sell and because those stores devote more space to the product.

Taking its commitment to retail one step farther, Natural Knobs opened its own retail showroom last year. The 1,500-square-foot showroom is located in Bradenton, Fla., and features Natural Knobs in various vignettes and settings.

Julie Chin, Natural Knobs' founder and president, said the store is helping the company learn how to better promote and sell the knobs in a retail setting and would help them to assist their retailer partners.