Landscape Expo Showcases New Kirchner Offerings

Kirchner Block & Brick staged its first Landscape Expo in St. Charles, Mo., earlier this year. While the main focus of the event was exposing Midwest

Kirchner Block & Brick staged its first Landscape Expo in St. Charles, Mo., earlier this year. While the main focus of the event was exposing Midwest customers to vendor products and information, as well as providing contractor educational opportunities, the show’s highlight was an unveiling of Kirchner offerings, the company asserts, including many items new to the St. Louis marketplace.

Attendees also were able to take part in a seminar conducted by AAIM Management Association titled Effective Lead Management. Seminar content detailed ways landscape contractors can effectively turn sales leads into profitable business.

Among new product lines Kirchner will carry beginning in 2009 are Silver Creek Stoneworks brick paving slabs, landscape tiles, and stonecut steps for upscale patio installations [www.silvercreeksw.com]; FireRock Products LLC pre-engineered fireplace systems, suited for both indoor and outdoor designs [www.firerock.us]; and, Rosetta Hardscapes, LLC precast retaining wall systems, steps and hardscape products, simulating natural stone [www.discoverrosetta.com]. Additional brand products that Kirchner will supply include Versa-Green plantable wall systems from Versa-LOK; Keystone 133Elite retaining wall systems; and, permeable Romanstone Interlocking Paving Stones in an expanded range of sizes, colors and shapes, available with a lifetime warranty. Engraving services also will be offered to meet the growing demand for engraved, blocks, bricks and pavers, particularly for exterior architecture and landscape projects that include a memorial or a charitable donation element.

Attending the first-ever event for landscape contractors were 145-plus people from contracting companies across the Midwest. Notes Kirchner Sales Manager Mark Wilhelms, Since our contractor customers account for a significant amount of our annual sales revenues, we decided that investment in this type of contractor trade show education was essential to our core business, particularly as we roll out new products to the marketplace. Further, Wilhelms notes, With our parent company’s recent acquisitions and expansion, particularly Hill Thomas in Illinois and Glenstone Block in Missouri, the new product lines will help us compete in the Midwest. Û www.kirchnerblock.com