Customers don”™t go to Division Plumbing and Heating Supply Inc. in Danbury to peruse an endless array of two-foot, swan-neck golden faucets. They go to the utilitarian showroom for help in doing everything from replacing those wax rings a toilet sits on to figuring out how to change a faucet washer to accomplishing more complicated plumbing projects.
It”™s a place the home handyman goes when he means business ”“ and needs help. Behind the counter, patiently showing the handyman the inner workings of that leaky faucet or drawing a diagram for the guy still scratching his head is Charlie Knapp. He”™s been behind that counter so long that he”™s seeing the third generation of customers beginning to come through the door.
Knapp, 63, has been helping home handymen ”“ and, increasingly, handywomen ”“ for the past 38 years or so. He “couldn”™t even begin to count” the hundreds, maybe thousands of guys he”™s helped succeed in their Saturday morning plumbing projects over they years. Some of his original customers still come in now and then, but “now I”™ve got their sons who”™ve matured and gotten a place of their own and come in when they have a problem,” Knapp said. “And I”™m watching their teenage children tag along in some instances.”
Knapp”™s plumbing supply business on Division Street is unique for metro Danbury, and has been attracting the region”™s handymen “since probably around 1970,” he said. Some of those handymen “are qualified, and know what they know.” And “there are others that just don”™t have a clue. But if you know you don”™t know, you”™re a head of the game.”
Increasingly, Knapp said, more women are coming in to buy plumbing parts and ask his advice. “Frequently women are the better customers because there”™s no ego involved. I mean, they”™re not afraid to say they don”™t know and are not afraid to ask a question. And when you give them an answer, they listen instead of trying to debate it with you. And they”™re the ones who usually call up and say, ”˜I didn”™t think I could do it, but I did and it works.”™”
A new market
When Knapp was a boy in Lewisboro, N.Y., his father ”“ a plumber ”“ said Charlie could be anything he wanted to be when he grew up, “but you”™ll have to learn the plumbing business first.”
“Even as a kid I worked with him,” Knapp said. “My Saturdays were spent sorting and fitting and cleaning the trucks.” When he graduated from John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y., in 1963, he joined his dad in the family business ”“ Knapp Plumbing and Heating ”“ in Lewisboro until 1968, “when I got married and moved to Ridgefield” about the time his father retired and moved to Florida and Knapp took over the small shop. “I was able to do the work, but I was a lousy bookkeeper and bill collector,” he said. “I took the business over, but it eventually took me over and I went out of business. I was only in business for about two years.”
But a plumber who had worked with Knapp”™s father and had his own plumbing business in Danbury, Bill Casey, hired Knapp. “About that time, do-it-yourself operations were springing up and lumber yards were catering to do-it-yourselfers.” Knapp”™s boss started Division Plumbing as a plumbing retail store, not a plumbing supply house, to tap into the do-it-yourself market.
“It was a business where if somebody had to make a repair, we would advise them about how to go about it. If they felt qualified to install a new bathroom, we would help them lay it out and tell them how to install the fixtures. If they had problems with their heating system or well pump, we could advise them how to make their own repair or whether they should have a professional do it.”
The business opened in a 150-plus-year-old, 1,200-square-foot storefront with a small and spare showroom, a front counter and, behind the counter, storage racks, pipe racks and bins of plumbing supplies. “I started out with Casey as a service man on the road, and when the fellow who was in Division Plumbing had a day off, I would come into the store and run it,” Knapp said. In time, Casey bought out his partner “and running the store became my full time job.”
A teacher
Division Plumbing and Heating Supply “is a good resource for repair parts the bigger supply houses had little or no interest in ”“ odd parts to repair a faucet, specialty items you might need to make a repair or installation,” Knapp said. “The big supply houses are interested in boilers or a truckload of bathroom fixtures, in doing volume.” That left open a wide door for the home handyman niche, and the business developed by word of mouth.
In time, Casey was ready to retire, and Knapp and a partner bought the business in 1988, with Knapp buying out the partner within a year. Knapp leased the Division Street building from Casey until six years ago, when he and his wife, Judith, decided to buy a 149-year-old house across the street at 45 Division St. and move the business there. “The usable space is probably around 900 square feet, but I have a shop in the back for long, bulky items like pipes; I have the basement and the second floor for light storage; and better parking and easier access.” And a steady stream of customers.
Knapp”™s gift is not one of gab or being a great salesman; he”™s more of a teacher. “In order to make a sale, you have to give the person all the information they need to make a successful repair. If they don”™t feel confident and don”™t feel successful, they”™re not going to come back.”
“I guess it”™s instinctive,” he said of his ability to give patient explanations to a customer while others wait their turn. “I have a high school education and never took any business courses, so I learned it all by the seat of my pants,” he said. “If you”™re going to help somebody, you”™ve got to help them. Sometimes, if we don”™t speak the same language, you draw pictures.”
And Knapp”™s explanations and encouragement don”™t end at the counter. “I”™m frequently on the phone because I”™ve got a customer on the other end who”™s got a problem,” he said. “If helping him out is what it takes, you do it.”
In addition to handymen, Knapp”™s customer base includes the city of Danbury, the city”™s housing authority, occasional visits from Brookfield, Bethel and Ridgefield personnel, convalescent homes, property management companies and plumbers. “I”™ve got a pretty broad customer base, but I can”™t rely on any one segment to sustain me,” he said. One reason for the wide net is “I have a broad base of parts and I don”™t align myself with one manufacturer. If I don”™t have the part, I will get it.”
Knapp knows everything about his inventory except its value. “My wife and the accountant take care of that,” he said. “My job is to take care of the counter
