Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Pleasant Prairie retailer launching remodeling site

- Sarah Hauer

When eImproveme­nt LLC launched eFaucets.com in 2003, the internet was a promising avenue for commerce and home remodeling television shows were taking off.

Decades later, just selling online isn’t enough to sustain a business.

The team from Pleasant Prairiebas­ed eFaucets launched its new site, Hausera, on Tuesday. The site, hausera.com, focuses on products for kitchen and bath remodels.

The way people think about and plan home renovation­s has shifted with online platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and Houzz serving as places for inspiratio­n and ideation.

The plan for Hausera is to provide an updated and curated full-service home remodeling site.

The new Hausera isn’t just a clickand-buy site.

“We’re trying to bridge that gap between seeing that inspiratio­n and making a buying decision,” Vice President of Marketing and Merchandis­ing Wesley Ward said.

The team has built out editorial content that will explain materials, finish types and other product informatio­n. A new “Room Inspiratio­n” feature shows products curated by design profession­als who create product lists for kitchens and bathrooms.

The idea is to bring together a fragmented home remodel market.

“The customers are so overwhelme­d,” Ward said. “They have a hard time making decisions. They don’t know how to choose between one option or another.”

eFaucets would have around half a million products available. Hausera will have about half the number of products as eFaucets. It is launching with around 30,000 units and plans to grow to around 100,000 by the end of the year. Hausera features brands like Kohler, Kallista, Delta, Moen, Brizo, Hansgrohe, Grohe, Newport Bass and Rohl.

eFaucets was really just focused on faucets, though it did expand into other product categories over time.

“Because of the generic nature of the name, it really wasn’t serving any group particular­ly well,” Ward said.

The team thinks all of these changes will result in aggressive growth. At peak, eFaucets annual revenue was around $80 million, according to the company. Hausera is targeting to grow that by three times. By the end of the year, Hausera plans to add another 20 employees to have around 100.

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