Hotel Owners Facing PIPs Need Faster, Easier Bathroom Upgrades

Glenn: [00:00:00] Everybody. It’s your hospitality friend, Glenn here. I’m going to show conference floor somewhere in America, looking out for stuff that could help you save time, help you save money, especially when you come up with all those renovations. Anyone hear the word of hip out there? I think Sean Jacobs over here has her. He was a Dirk De Vuyst. Sorry about that. Now you guys are with MPL and IMI, two companies that have recently merged. It’s going to unlock a lot of opportunity, not just for you folks, but for our folks out there. So what’s this all about? Sean?

Sean: [00:00:32] I’m glad you asked us that, Glenn. So MPL has been in the industry for about 35 years. I’ve been in the industry about 30 years. We recently are merging together, really taking two world class manufacturing culture marble manufacturers, merging them into one here to service your needs in hospitality. The power of two with the name of one.

Glenn: [00:00:52] All right, we’re going to we’re going to talk a little bit about what we do. But first I gotta get a comment from you.

Sean: [00:00:57] You know.

Dirk: [00:00:58] So I started, I in my 32 years ago.

Glenn: [00:01:00] Wow.

Dirk: [00:01:01] And then merged the company into the ABG group. And then we, the ABG group acquired MPL. Sean and I have been friends for a long time. We’ve competed for a long time and now we’re the best of friends that we’re determined to make this happen, and it’s going to be a really good merger for our customers and for the hospitality community in general.

Glenn: [00:01:21] All right. So why, Sean, is this going to be so good for the customers out there? Let’s talk a little bit about product, why we’re actually here today at this random trade show somewhere. So in America.

Sean: [00:01:31] As sister companies, we really can provide the same product essentially for two different plant locations, one just south of Indianapolis, the other one just north of Atlanta. That provides obvious advantages to any customer of ours. With freight, we can also help the customers out with shorter lead times, depending on the capacity or the pipeline of any one of those plants. So there’s a multitude of options that can really help serve our collective customers.

Glenn: [00:01:57] All right. So let’s let’s talk a little bit about the products out there. We’ve been keeping this a secret long enough. You guys are fixing those bathrooms. You’re going to need new showers. And that’s where these guys could come in. So who wants to give us a little bit of a tour first, Sean. All right. I’m going to reverse the camera. Right on you. All right. Now you’re in control. Sean, what do we got to look at over here?

Sean: [00:02:18] So what we have here, behind us is a brand new product that was just launched about four months ago at BNI. It’s called calligraphy. Now, what makes calligraphy unique is it’s built upon a traditional backbone, a material that’s been tried and true within the hospitality industry for 30 years. Wow. But then there’s the magic that occurs. And with this new product, and my friend Dirk here at his.

Glenn: [00:02:40] Place, we’ve got a replacement for David Copperfield. This is very exciting.

Sean: [00:02:44] Absolutely. Except there’s no smoke and mirrors.

Glenn: [00:02:47] Just glass. The cultured marble.

Sean: [00:02:49] I’m looking at the shower walls in this particular case. So if you look at the shower walls, what would appear to be a large format porcelain tile, or you might construe a marble slab type of appearance. This is actually not any of that. It’s something that is made in Georgia. There’s no tariffs, no duties, shorter lead times. We can mimic the look of the real marble. We can mimic the look of any of the large format porcelain. It comes in a three panel shower system very quick to install. And here’s the best part. The magic that I spoke of a moment ago, that marble like look can be customized. Meaning any designers that are listening to this have the ability to introduce their own pattern, their own. I’ll call it artwork for simplicity’s sake, right?

Glenn: [00:03:37] I like that. That’s really cool, Sean, because so many brands are focused really on that specific look and feel that plays into their branding. I was just at a recent event with a sustainable hotel company, and I could see that they might want to have like wave patterns or something like that. That feels more organic.

Sean: [00:03:55] Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you imagine this again, quote unquote artwork, that could be a beach scene, it could be a cityscape, it could be a mountain scene, it could be your family if you wanted it to be. But the idea is that artwork is completely encapsulated behind the gel coat. So what’s nice about it is customizable and it doesn’t it will never wear off, clean off, scratch off.

Glenn: [00:04:16] That’s pretty that’s pretty amazing. Now, Sean, I think maybe we should ask Dirk a couple of questions. Right. So what do you think about that? So Dirk, I gotta ask you, you know, he said saves time. All of that. What is it? I think it’s something like 4 to 5 hours to install instead of like days.

Dirk: [00:04:30] No, no, that would be if Sean does it. But the way I do it, it takes 2 to 3 hours.

Glenn: [00:04:34] Yeah.

Dirk: [00:04:35] So but all kidding aside it takes about 2 to 3 hours to install and that’s from start to finish. In other words, that’s the caulking included. I imagine a tile product. It takes 2 or 3 days to go through all the various steps that you need to do to get a quality install. In our case, we do a lot of work ahead of time in the plant, and you’re factoring it. The installer can easily trim it at a job site, and then installing is really a matter of an hour.

Glenn: [00:05:02] Yeah. Derek, could you show me what we have over here?

Dirk: [00:05:05] Correct.

Glenn: [00:05:05] This is a this is a really high end shower door.

Dirk: [00:05:08] High end shower door.

Glenn: [00:05:09] I’m gonna go in.

Speaker 4: [00:05:10] There you go.

Glenn: [00:05:11] Look at that one piece made in the good old USA.

Dirk: [00:05:17] There you go. Made in the USA. So that’s another thing that’s important. Our products are made in the USA right there in the Atlanta area or in the in the Indianapolis plant. The shower doors that you see here are provided by our division coastal glass. Another division of ABG high end. Very customizable, not only in the look of all of the metals in it, but as well in the size and shape of the shower door.

Glenn: [00:05:45] That’s pretty, that’s pretty awesome. So I’m already I’m learning a lot here today so far. Dirk. But what about if people want to learn more from you guys.

Dirk: [00:05:55] They can visit our website the MPL website. And that would be a first step. We have 15 salespeople amongst the two companies that are ready to provide quotes to provide other details with regards to our products. And let’s get the ball rolling.

Glenn: [00:06:12] Yeah, let’s do it. Hey, thanks so much. Listen, you got those pips breathing down your neck, or let’s just put it this way. You’re in a major conversion market. When you’re acquiring a new hotel, you’re looking for ways to get it open fast, get it open as inexpensively as possible with maximum impact. And that’s where MPL and IMI are coming together to create amazing looking bathroom enclosures and walls. Wow. Absolutely beautiful. Dirk. Thanks so much, Sean. Thanks so much. We’ll see you guys later. Take care. Bye.