Sink bowls enter ‘Lowe’s,’ North America’s second-largest building-materials retailer

Product sales to begin at some 600 Lowe’s stores starting early next year

Baekjo Sink, a specialized manufacturer of stainless steel sink bowls, has laid the groundwork for expanding into the North American market after securing entry into ‘Lowe’s,’ North America’s second-largest building-materials retailer.

Lowe’s operates some 2,000 stores across North America and is a home-improvement retailer selling everything related to home construction and repair. In addition to a variety of tools such as nails and chainsaws, it sells a wide range of building materials and home-related products, including kitchen sink bowls and marble countertops. Given the local lifestyle, in which many consumers carry out home repairs and remodeling themselves, it can be regarded as an important foothold for establishing a presence in the North American interior market.

This entry was carried out together with Kraus, Baekjo Sink’s North American market partner. Following the signing of the sales contract, the entire volume of products is scheduled to be shipped in two batches by the end of November. The export products are two types of stainless steel sink bowls: the ‘BD832,’ a double-bowl type most commonly used by North American consumers, and the ‘GD800,’ a single-bowl type that is much loved in Korea. To suit the local kitchen culture, a small drain has been applied, and taking consumer preferences into account, a linear-pattern brushed finish has been applied.

The products shipped this year will be officially launched in early January next year and will first go on sale at around 600 Lowe’s stores located throughout North America. Then, starting in the second quarter of next year, the company will expand both its export products and stores, with the white enamel sink bowl ‘GD540’ also entering some 900 stores.

Baekjo Sink aims to enter all Lowe’s stores in the North American region, and plans to continually increase its export products and store presence to achieve USD 20 million in North American market sales within three years.

Alongside this, Baekjo Sink is accelerating the expansion of its North American sales channels by entering not only offline stores but also Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company. This year it began selling its own brand ‘Baekjo’ on Amazon, and next year it plans to also launch sales of new products under ‘CalmForte,’ a functional premium sink bowl brand, thereby targeting both online and offline channels in the North American market simultaneously.

An official from Baekjo Sink said, “If we successfully establish ourselves in the U.S. home-improvement market, which is worth more than USD 400 billion (approximately KRW 450 trillion), we can not only make the excellence of the Baekjo Sink brand known throughout the world but also expect a significant rise in sales,” adding, “Leveraging our excellent product quality and design as our strengths, we will actively pursue marketing and sales activities to raise the standing of the K-sink bowl in the U.S. market.”

Meanwhile, according to KOTRA, the U.S. home-improvement market, including home renovations and remodeling, is valued at USD 407.1 billion and is expected to grow by an annual average of 3% to reach USD 454.6 billion in 2023. In particular, amid increasing investment in kitchen remodeling over the past five years, sink replacement accounts for more than 80% of the various kitchen spaces, emerging as a major target in kitchen remodeling.

▲ Baekjo Sink export product ‘BD832’