Top Knobs Acquires Jaclo, Adding Decorative Plumbing to Luxury Brands

Top Knobs, a Dimora company, has acquired Jaclo Industries, the Cranford, N.J.-based decorative plumbing manufacturer, along with its sister brand, Durst. Jaclo joins Watermark Designs as part of Top Knobs' Luxury Brands division.

The deal gives the combined group a single coordinated source for luxury kitchen and bath fixtures, finishes and hardware aimed at showrooms, designers, architects and contractors.

What does Jaclo bring to the portfolio?

Jaclo is a manufacturer and distributor serving the plumbing, design and contracting trade through showrooms and dealers across North America, supported by a dedicated hospitality division. Durst supplies in-stock valves, fittings, drainage and water supply components to wholesalers and the professional plumbing trade.

Jaclo is best known for its decorative specialties — the exposed working parts of a bath, from supply lines and drains to grab bars and escutcheons, finished to match the faucet and shower. The product range spans:

• Shower systems, including the design-patented Rain Machine
• Faucets
• Decorative grab bars
• Channel and decorative drains
• Bath accessories

All collections are offered in more than 35 coordinated finishes, with finish matching across product families. Products ship from the company's New Jersey facility.

Why the acquisition fits

Jaclo's showroom customers overlap closely with those of Top Knobs and Watermark Designs, the company said. That overlap underpins the strategic logic of the deal: a designer specifying a Watermark faucet can now source matching drains, supply lines and accessories from the same corporate group.

"We're thrilled to welcome the Jaclo/Durst team into the Luxury Brands group," said Matthew Farwell, vice president of Luxury Brands. "For over a century, Jaclo and Durst have built a reputation for quality and reliability — serving customers everywhere from design showrooms to hardware stores to hospitality projects. We're excited to build on that legacy, bringing together our combined strengths to better serve our trade partners and customers across every channel."

What changes for customers and staff?

Nothing immediate. Jaclo and Durst will continue to operate under their own names, with no changes to products or ordering. Key leadership will remain in place, the company said.

For Larry Brodey, Jaclo's longtime CEO and advisor, continuity was the deciding factor in the sale. "My top priority was making sure the company and its legacy brands were left in the best possible hands," Brodey said. "I wanted an industry leader with the resources, vision and heart to take us to the next level. Top Knobs is the right partner at the right time to write this exciting next chapter."

The acquisition consolidates Top Knobs' position in the luxury kitchen and bath hardware market, pairing its cabinet and bath hardware catalog with Jaclo's century-old decorative plumbing business and Durst's wholesale components operation. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.