It’s not often that an American company can trace its roots to the fall of communism. But that’s how Klaus D. Zenkner, founder of Henrico County–based Rheingold Inc., says he walked into the staircase business.
“After the reunion of East Germany and West Germany, we bought apartment houses in East Berlin,” explained Zenkner. A home- owner offered to pay $50,000 simply to replace an old staircase. “So much money!” Zenkner recalled with a laugh.
In the early 1990s, Zenkner’s company— Rheingold GmbH—was producing windowsills and kitchen counters. He had the tools and experience to design and produce an easy-to-install and durable staircase. His knowledge of wood composites, glues, and other material came in handy. “But I had no idea what the market would be.”
After creating and installing that first set of stairs for an East Berlin flat, “A lot of people saw the product and said, ‘Oh nice.’ So we started a production line of just stairs.”
After steady growth of sales, Rheingold began specializing in staircases. Today, his German production line has 30 employees and sells what’s billed as a “complete no-hassle staircase remodeling system” in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and nearly 30 other countries, including the United States.
That’s where his son, Stefan, enters the Rheingold story. “There’s definitely a huge demand for this material over here, and no competition,” Stefan Zenkner, 29, said.
So two years ago, Stefan arrived in the United States to establish a Rheingold beach- head, preferably on the East Coast. He began driving along Interstate 95, starting in Boston and stopping in Atlanta. But with help from regional economic development officials, he wound up in the mid-Atlantic— in Henrico County, where he was impressed by the county’s location, the low cost of business, and the region’s durable economy.
Henrico also is close to the seaport of Hampton Roads, where the Zenkners can easily import Rheingold’s custom-made materials from Germany. Henrico also is a good proving ground to sell and install the staircase systems. And, the icing on the cake, the office/warehouse they found in eastern Henrico “is so much cheaper than New England” or comparable facilities in Northern Virginia, Stefan Zenkner said.
Along with his wife, Karmen, the young Zenkner runs the business from a 2,000- square-foot office/warehouse at the Byrd Center on Laburnum Avenue, not far from Richmond International Airport.
The market here is different than in Germany and the rest of Europe, where, after that first staircase in East Berlin, they don’t typically sell to homeowners. In Germany, it’s easier to market through distributors or wholesalers. Another difference in the States, the Zenkners say, is a lack of awareness of the kind of high-quality laminates created by Rheingold. They are trying to battle a perception against all laminated wood they have encountered in the States.
“We make only one product, with one [high] quality,” Klaus Zenkner said with obvious pride. “We make no difference between a home or a bank of 10,000 square feet.”
Because “the Germans are much more ready to pay for a quality product,” Klaus said, Rheingold is working on changing perceptions of American consumers. “We need time—five to 10 years.”
One day this summer, Stefan and Karmen Zenkner were busy taking orders to install the customized system. Stefan usually does the entire installation, using subcontractors only for extra work such as repairing landings.
Karmen Zenkner demonstrated the system and explained its popularity. Rheingold helps home and business owners who want to make their stairs look better, but don’t want to turn the repair work into a major construction project. Often, she observed, when people remodel steps, they place a piece of wood right on top of the steps and then paint the bottom. This piecemeal approach can be time-consuming, expensive, and messy, she said.
That’s where Rheingold’s custom product can help. “See how this is all one piece?” she asked. Holding up the sample piece of what is billed as “seamless staircase system,” Karmen explained the difference from anything sold by American firms. One major point of difference is Rheingold’s patented design with a “tread and nose” on the step that creates the seamless form on the staircase.
“When we’re done,” Karmen said, “with- out ripping the staircase out and rebuilding it, you get a brand new staircase.”
The top of the stair surface is made from a tough laminate that provides “superior durability,” has a nonslip surface, and is “water, scratch and fade resistant,” according to the brochure.
Adding to the value, the Zenkners use high-end silicon caulking material along with a special adhesive. “A really important thing with wood is that it expands season to season,” Karmen said. “You can’t use a regular glue that’s just going to harden. We came up with something very flexible, and strong enough to hold down” the stair system.
As an added bonus, Rheingold offers a “night lighting system” that uses LEDs (light- emitting diodes) that are low-energy and activated by remote control. “This is perfect for basements and attics,” Karmen explained, “where there’s not a lot of light.”
If all this sounds expensive, Karmen said, “Actually it’s not.” She declined to give a standard price, because they offer so many options, but a ballpark estimate she shared was fairly modest compared to many high- end home repairs. “Compared to replacing carpet or tearing out a staircase, this is a really cheap option.”
Now the Zenkners are pondering ways to form strategic alliances that might get the word out about their product. They have a display at Virginia Center Com mons, advertise online and have a Web site (www.rheingold-inc.com), and appear at home and garden shows. But marketing “is the tough part,” Karmen said. “It’s so hard to get your name out there,” adding, “People have to see it to really understand what it is, and how great it looks.”
The Zenkners may sell licensing rights to other companies, such as those in the flooring market. Whichever way they go, Klaus Zenkner has no doubts about his deci- sion to come to Henrico. “I like America! Absolutely—perfect!”
