It was a special trip to St. Louis, MO for FEI Group’s Eddie Schukar, who was presented with the Kitchen and Bath Lifetime Achievement Award by Patrick Warren on behalf of Daltile. FEI Group’s Brian Penabad, Bryan Sprang and Randy McNatt were joined by kitchen and bath members from across the country, many of whom have known Eddie for decades.
“Eddie has been a friend to Daltile for many years,” says Warren, Vice President of Dealer Sales & Showrooms. “His service to the industry over the last 30 years is considerable. He is a respected member of the FEI Group team, another longtime partner of ours, and a deserving recipient of an award that honors his expertise and the relationships he’s built over three decades in the industry.”
Schukar’s career began as a showroom owner in the early 1990s. After joining a cooperative and realizing the benefits of membership, he embarked on a journey to found and manage the first cooperative group in the kitchen and bath industry. In 1996, alongside two former NKBA presidents, the Bath and Kitchen Buying Group (BKBG) was formed. Schukar served as its Executive Director for nearly 20 years, during which time it grew to become a recognizable name in the industry. He then recognized the need for more focus and autonomy for decorative plumbing and hardware businesses, so Forte and PremierDPH groups were launched. Both groups flourished over the years, bringing solid benefits to members and suppliers alike.
In 2015, he met with the FEI Group team and was impressed with the experience, culture and personalities. He was invited to join the team as a founder and the director of Kitchen & Bath Alliance (K&BA), its first retail/remodeling showroom division. Today, K&BA continues to serve independent brick and mortar showrooms and now has over 150 members nationwide. Together with KBx, the dealer-distributor division of FEI, K&BA has become the largest business group of its kind in the kitchen and bath industry, with 220 members and nearly 500 locations.
Says Penabad, senior vice president of FEI Group, “Eddie’s passion for the FEI Group mission and its members runs deep. His ability to recognize opportunities and leverage relationships with the best in the industry to help achieve mutual goals has made him a valuable asset to the FEI membership. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the award. We are grateful to Patrick and the team at Daltile for their efforts in acknowledging Eddie’s commitment to the industry as a whole.”
