Meet The Niche Man: Creator of high quality shower niches

Thanks to our amazing, supportive customers and community, 2021 is off to a flying start for The Niche Man. We’ve even revamped our look!

But we thought it high time we take a step back to review where we’ve come from and importantly, introduce you to The Niche Man himself!

So in saying that…

Meet David, The Niche Man

Here are some facts about The Niche Man you may not know:

• He ran a cabinet making business for 30 years, and helped develop the lightweight but durable polyurethane material used in our niches
• He’s married to the wonderful Cheryl, who runs the marketing and operations side of the business (you’ll probably chat to her if you place an order!)
• He loves restoring old cars, travelling, renovating homes and experimenting with new designs and inventions (particularly when it comes to his own products)
• He’s an Essendon fan
• He has an Italian heritage and loves to visit his grandfather’s house on the Aeolian Islands.

David is passionate about sharing his incredible product with people. He finds it very rewarding being able to offer a high quality, convenient solution, while having fun experimenting with new designs.

He says, “I love being able to explore different designs, and expressing creativity with different colours and concepts.”

So how did David come to be ‘The Niche Man’?

The making of The Niche Man 

Back in 2014 David was working hard flipping houses. He was also renovating his own home, and wanted some shower niches in his bathrooms. So he made them himself, using a high quality, waterproof material that he’d already done some work with in his cabinet making business.

David’s plasterer noticed the fine workmanship of his shower niches, and asked for some custom built niches of his own. Inevitably word got around and within a few months, The Niche Man had started designing and developing bathroom niches for the wider community.

A business started to take formation as David identified a genuine need for waterproof shower niches that builders and tiler could easily work with. 

He says, “I saw the problems in bathrooms firsthand through my experience in cabinet making. I was getting calls from insurance companies asking me to inspect damaged bathroom cabinets caused by leaks in showers and niches, so I knew there was a problem out there. Having come across this polyurethane material that was 100% waterproof, I knew it was a match made in heaven!”

So The Niche Man built his business largely through word of mouth, because the product is just that good! Once people see how it works and how easy it is to use, they’re sold.

Like Sam Nogueira, National Business Manager at Milwaukee Tools:

But of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

Growth and challenges

By 2019, The Niche Man operation had outgrown its status as a garage business, and it was time to move into a warehouse space. Since upsizing, we’ve expanded our offering and our reach, so even more people can access our products.

Then Covid-19 threw a curveball. Here’s what David had to say about this tough time:

“Covid hit just after we moved into our factory. It was a worrying time for everybody, not just people in business, and for us it saw the phones go dead. Everything stopped for a few weeks, but we still had to pay our rent and operating costs. It was a waiting game. 

“On the bright side, it gave us the opportunity to do more work in our showroom and get the business set up, even though there were no niches going out. After 2 or 3 weeks of quiet, all our builders started to ring up again. People were getting used to the new environment, and our Prime Minister announced that building sites were allowed to continue. This gave everybody permission to move forward, with all the new protocols in place like mask wearing and hand sanitising. 

“While we weren’t setting any records, The Niche Man was able to coast along. At least we had an income. A lot of people were renovating their houses during Covid, so we had a lot of DIY orders and people found the resources on our website very helpful.”

Having survived through a global pandemic, where to next for The Niche Man?

The Niche Man’s future plans

Our vision has always been to make life easier for builders, architects, tilers, designers and home renovators. And that vision is still alive and well. 

David said, “I’d love The Niche Man to become a household name. I’d love people to come to us when they need a niche. Down the track, we may even go to the next level, take the product world-wide and supply to all of Australia making our shower niches a standard thing in the trade.”

Stay tuned for more exciting developments and adventures with The Niche Man as we continue to grow.

You can follow along and stay up to date over on our social accounts!