By James Wells
MELBOURNE: Franke Australia has commenced negotiations with publicly-listed homewares supplier GWA International, to distribute the Swiss brand of sinks and major kitchen appliances to the commercial market.
Current.com.au understands that the Melbourne-based supplier has an agreement in progress, but there is no definite start date at this stage.
Under the agreeement, GWA’s Dorf Clark division will effectively now become a client of Franke, in the same way it deals with retailers such as Clive Peeters and E&S Trading. The deal is strictly for the commercial market where Franke is not active.
Dorf Clark is Australia’s principal designer, manufacturer, importer and distributor of tapware and associated accessories, stainless steel sinks and laundry tubs for both domestic and commercial applications.
This agreement provides Franke with access to the top end of the market with developers such as Mirvac who do not want to deal with a business that can just offer a sink or an appliance, and more likely to look at a full portfolio of
products that someone like GWA can provide.
The deal with GWA will not affect Franke’s retail business which will continue as usual and is obviously designed to grow both company’s overall turnover.