arts&life
at home

A Big
H
Advance

LEFT TO RIGHT: Joshua, Jeffrey and Justin Moss.

Advance Plumbing — family-owned
for almost a century — has opened a
20,000-square-foot space in Midtown Detroit.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

46

November 8 • 2018

jn

ome buyers and home
renovators can try out
more than 50 working
showerheads, 20 working kitchen
and bathroom faucets, and five
working toilets when they visit the
new Midtown Detroit showroom of
Advance Plumbing & Heating Supply
Co.
The working products are found
amid a vast array of display items
that include lighting fixtures — all to
help customers experience products
before deciding what fits their needs
for convenience and comfort.
The 5,000 feet of display area
takes visitors into the city’s first-ever
decorative plumbing showroom,
where videos are being planned to
enhance the shopping experience
when hands-on is not available.
Advance Plumbing, a fourth-
generation family business that has
had a Detroit presence for 99 years,
decided to invest in a state-of-the-
art customer facility where urban
development is catching public
attention way beyond Michigan.
The opening was celebrated in
September with a ribbon cutting by
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and
a large reception featuring Detroit

themes and a preview to hundreds of
guests.
“The city is booming, and we
wanted to be part of the resurgence,”
says Joshua Moss, vice president.
“There’s construction all around us
— apartments, restaurants, bars and
retail stores — with a lot of people
moving back. Our location also is
convenient for people living along
the outskirts of the city.
“We started looking for a building
with 20,000 square feet so we could
move our offices and warehouse
space as well, and we found the right
location on Parsons Street.
We were helped along with
a $100,000 grant from the
Detroit Economic Growth
Corporation’s Motor City
Match, added to our $2
million commitment to
restore the building.”
The one-level structure,
enhanced with abundant
parking space, follows
years of customer service
out of a retail center
on Grand River, where
the development of the
Lodge Freeway cut into
operational footage.
Aside from the decorative products,
Advance continues to sell pipes,
fittings and boilers.
While Advance Plumbing also
maintains its Walled Lake showroom,
the longtime enterprise still requires
additional offsite warehouse
facilities.
It would have been hard to imagine
the high-tech innovations that have
come into plumbing, particularly
for homes, when Moss’ late great-
grandfather started the business and
even as it was moved along by his
son-in-law, the late Ronald Moss.
Jeffrey Moss, son of Ronald
and dad of Joshua and Justin,
has watched the introduction
of digital controls. For instance,
a shower panel allows people to
operate various water functions and
accessories from one central point
that also enables a phone connection.
“The ultimate luxury sink — at
about $3,000 — is manufactured
by Franke Kitchen Systems,” Moss
says. “It has all kinds of built-in
accessories, including a cutting
board, colander and drain pan. There
are different compartments for wine
bottles and compost.

