Acrylic wall textures are Variance Finishes' specialty
New Mexico Business Weekly
by Dennis Domrzalski
Jim Wetherbe is probably the only guy in Albuquerque who can say that guests will just stop and stare at the interior walls of his 8,000 square-foot home in the High Desert development.
"They stand there and they stare at them, they touch them, they just have this fascination with the walls. I've never seen anything like it before," Wetherbe says.
Wetherbe, a professor of business at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, won't have those bragging rights for long if the Albuquerque company that developed the acrylic, plaster-like finish that gives his walls an undulating, ocean wave-like effect continues its rapid, but controlled growth across the United States.
And it looks like Variance Finishes LLC will do just that. Incorporated in 2001, Variance, with its four-year-old Variance Acrylic Finish Systems product, has seen 50 percent growth rates in the past three years and expects to see the same for the next four or five. The company's acrylic wall finish is now distributed in 18 states, which will grow to 23 by the year's end, and has annual sales in the $2 million to $3 million range.
"We are coast-to-coast and border-to-border in some fashion," Variance CEO Rob Knight says of his company's growth since 2003 when its new product was launched. "We are looking to go nationwide, but we are also looking to control the growth so we can maintain the quality."
Variance has several strategies to grow its business. They include the sales of accessory products like sealers, primers and other items used to surface interior and exterior walls for residential and commercial buildings.
The first strategy was to develop a product that was better than traditional plaster and that could be applied to sheet rock to give it a different surface texture. Development of Variance Acrylic Finish Systems began in 1999, and the product hit the market in 2003.
"It's basically a decorative and high performing finishing material made from acrylic resins and different aggregates and fillers," Knight says. "The major advantage Variance products provide are a variety of finish looks, from Venetian Plaster to more conventional gypsum veneer plasters at a fraction of the cost and number of steps.
"We have 24 standard colors, but we have the ability to match any color. And we have the ability to do a wide variety of different looks. The finished product is waterproof, washable, easily repairable and crack and stain resistant."
Once the product was developed, Variance had to start distributing it outside of Albuquerque and New Mexico.
"We used to sell it directly to contractors, but we knew we had to find distributors to grow," Knight says.
Locally, Variance recently partnered with Chaparral Materials, Inc. to distribute the product throughout New Mexico and southern Colorado. The firm has also inked deals with distributors in the Midwest and California.
"We find building material distributors who sell similar lines of products and things like dry wall, stucco and other plaster products," Knight says. "By finding a strong local distributor, we get the right kind of customer base for installing our product. That is a key."
Another of Variance's strategies is to help its distributors train contractors how to use its acrylic plasters.
"We have a strong training and marketing program, so the distributor is not left alone to do the marketing and training. We have a training facility in Albuquerque at 4509 Alameda Blvd. NE," Knight says. "We have three employees who are trainers who can train people how to put on demonstration and application seminars. When we set up a distributor in a new market, we will do local training at their facility. ... The product has such a wide variety of applications, so we encourage contractors to attend multiple sessions."
Pricing Variance to be competitive in the mid-to-high-end residential and commercial construction market is another strategy that Knight has used to increase the sales of the plaster.
"There are a lot of specialty plasters and finishes on the market that are very expensive and they have a limited amount of the market. We have a price point that is affordable. In New Mexico, the average price would be $3 to $3.50 per square foot of wall surface it is applied to. It's competitive with any other type of specialty finish. We are also working to market it as a green product."
All that effort seems to be paying off for Variance. In 2006, the amount of product purchased surfaced 1 million square feet. The 2006 Albuquerque Parade of Homes featured 104 homes and Variance's acrylic plaster was in 32 of those homes. A year earlier, the firm's product was in 18 Parade homes, and in 2004, it was in three.
"It's the best I've ever seen," Rick Blackburn of Blackburn Plastering in Kerrville, Texas says of Variance's acrylic plaster. "I have never found another interior plaster product that is repairable like Variance. It's easy to apply, easy to touch up. It is spectacular and it is easy to sell."
Wetherbe says he will use Variance in a home he is building in Lubbock.
"I'll be one of the first in Lubbock to use it," he says. "Sometimes you pay for something and feel like it was really worth it. This would fall into that category."
Blackburn, who has been plastering for more than 20 years, has been using Variance for two years.
"I had been using it eight months before I made a trip to Fort Worth for training," he adds. "My profit margins are wonderful with it.
"I have pretty much quit using other plasters. If I can't change my customer's mind, I would rather not have the customer. I would rather have them go with Variance."
Jeff Hansen, sales manager for Ashgrove Packaging in Omaha, Neb., has been distributing Variance for three years and says "there is nothing like this product on the market."
"It's phenomenal. We have found that the Venetian, old-world plaster look is becoming red hot in the commercial and residential markets," Hansen says. "Variance offers a product that is unmatched with its versatility, looks, durability and price. It is well priced for mid-to-upper range housing.
"In this area it is being used in bigger commercial projects like hotels, a performing arts center and a Mayo Clinic. Rob Knight has figured out to launch a product and take it nationwide and do it in a way with controlled growth so that there is support and service."
Wetherbe says he will use Variance in a home he is building in Lubbock.
"I'll be one of the first in Lubbock to use it," he says. "Sometimes you pay for something and feel like it was really worth it. This would fall into that category."