Globe Union Faucets Review & Rating Updated: January 9, 2025
No. 22, Chien-Kuo Road
Taichung Export Processing Zone
Tanzih District
Taiwan
This Company In Brief
Globe Union is an international manufacturer and one of the world's largest ODM/OEM suppliers of plumbing and sanitary products to other companies, operating over 5 million square feet of manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities located on three continents and in nine countries..
Its products are marketed through a dozen or so company and private brands worldwide. The publicly-traded company, controlled by the Ou-yang Ming family and headquartered in Taiwan but manufactures in China.
The Company
Founded in 1979 as a plumbing products and sanitary wares distributor, Globe Union is now an international manufacturer and one of the world's largest suppliers of plumbing and sanitary products to other companies.
The publicly traded company, controlled by the Ou-yang Ming family, is headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan but its manufacturing facilities are in China.
The company is one of the dominant faucet manufacturers in Asia under its GOBO brand which it introduced in 1985 in Taiwan, and to mainland China in 1994.
Its Asian sales, however, are just a small part of its revenue. Over 90% of its production is exported to the United States and Europe.
Faucets are made primarily in mainland Chinese factories by its subsidiary Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp.
It operates over 5 million square feet of manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities located on three Continents and in nine countries.
Growth and Acquisitions
The company has grown in size and enlarged its capacities through strategic acquisitions.
Its first purchase, Gerber Plumbing Fixtures in 2003, paralleled its acquisition of the state-owned Milim G&G Ceramics Co., Ltd. from the Chinese government.
Milim took over most of Gerber's U.S. manufacturing — and the union jobs that went with it — resulting in several lawsuits that Globe Union either won or settled and a blast of bad publicity for the company.
Globe Union kept the well-regarded Gerber brand name and Gerber's extensive North American distribution network.
Gerber now has manufacturing facilities in Laredo, Texas; Shenzhen, China; and Weifang, China.
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Table 1 Globe Union Brands in North America |
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Danze: Globe Union's premier brand in the U.S. since 2000.
The faucets were also sold as H+C Waterware until recently, but that brand has now been discontinued. The Danze brand is now being downgplayed in the U.S. in favor the Gerber nameplate. In Canada the Danze tradename has been recently transferred to the brand's Canadian distributor, Canadian Tire Corporation. We expect the brand to disappear from the U.S. market in the not too distant future but remain a major Globe Union brand in Canada.
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| Eurostream: Globe Union's line of mid-priced faucets sold primarily in Canada. |
| Gerber: Gerber Plumbing Fixtures Corp. was an American manufacturer of sanitary ware founded by Max Gerber in 1932. Its assets were purchased by Globe Union in 2003, and the company reorganized as Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC with Globe Union as majority shareholder. |
Its distribution centers are located in Bridgeton, N.J.; Woodridge, Illinois; City of Industry, California; Montreal, Canada; and Weifang, China.
In 2004 the company bought Lenz Badkultur GmbH & Co. KG. in Iserlohn, Germany. The purchase gave Globe Union entrée into the European market under the well-established Lenz name.
PJH Group, a leading European supplier of bathrooms, kitchens, and appliances in the U.K. was acquired in 2007, further extending the company's reach in the European Union.
PJH distributes Globe Union faucets under the Prima, Apple Studio, and "K" brands.
The purchase of Union Precision Industrial Corp., Ltd., also in 2007, expanded the company's manufacturing capacity in Asia.
North American Brands
Globe Union is the of Asia.
It manufactures faucets at almost all price points including world-class high style luxury faucets for and Cooper & Graham, and economy faucets for the discount market including its own (now defunct) Plumbers Collection and some faucets for Delta faucet.
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Table 2 Globe Union Faucets Made for Other Companies |
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|---|---|
| Brand Name | Company |
| Barnett Brass & Copper, Inc. | |
| Elkay Manufacturing Company | |
| Kraus USA | |
| Lefroy Brooks, Inc. | |
| Hajoca Corporation | |
| MintCraft | Orgill, Inc. |
| Ferguson Enterprises | |
| Delta Faucet Co. | |
| Toto USA, Inc. | |
| RONA (Canada) | |
Its flagship North American brands are
Eurostream faucets are sold primarily in Canada through the company's Canadian website and through major plumbing supply wholesalers including Grigg Industries.
introduced to the U.S. in 2000, is the brand under which Globe Union grew a name for itself in the U.S. faucet and decorative fixture market.
It has been a tremendous success after several false starts and marketing disasters that would have defeated most companies.
Danze grew to impressive proportions in a little over a dozen years with hundreds of brick and mortar retailers and a strong internet presence.
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Table 3: Globe Union Private Label Faucets |
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|---|---|
| Name | Retailer/Distributor |
| Lowe's Companies, Inc. | |
| Aspen, Seasons |
HD Supply Facilities Maintenance |
| Boston Harbor | Orgill, Inc. |
| Cooper & Graham | Cooper & Graham |
| EZ-Flo | EZ-Flo International |
| Gemline, Morsco |
Morrison Supply Company |
| Home Impressions | Do It Best Hardware |
| Home Depot USA, Inc. | |
| IKEA Systems B.V. | |
| Matco-Norca | Matco-Norca LLC |
| OmniPro | IMARK Plumbing |
| Plumb4orce | The Commonwealth Group |
| Deriva, Purepro |
FW Webb Company |
| Stream33 | Stream33 Products LLC |
| Studio Design | Floor and Decor Outlets of America |
With its purchase of Gerber Plumbing, Danze began consolidating its proprietary brands, throwing its considerable marketing muscle behind Gerber, Danze, and Eurostream as its major North American hallmarks.
It phased out its other brands including Ameristream, Corrego, Fusion, Plumbers Collection, and Water Ridge.
We can no longer find Ameristream faucets anywhere. Its showers were availabe for a few years, but these too have now vanished.
Plumbers Collection, an economical builder line aimed at the trades, was initially banished to eBay. It has now disappeared entirely in North America, although Globe Union still owns the tradename.
Corrego and Water Ridge, created expressly for Sam's Club and Costco as in-house brands, are also history. Water Ridge was discontinued as a Costco brand several years ago.
The last two Corrego faucets sold by Sam's club are now identified on its website as "discontinued" as of the date of this report.
The former , positioned by Globe Union as its upscale North American faucet brand, was disbanded in 2012 after selling its door lock and hardware division to Schlage Locks along with the right to the Fusion brand name.
All Fusion models, including Bella Villa, Colonial Crest, River Rock, Sonoma, South Beach, St. Charles, Samui, Lilly, and Bordeaux, were merged into the Danze line.
Many appeared for a while at deep discounts from internet retailers, then disappeared entirely as existing inventories were exhausted.
Fusion faucets are no longer sold in North America.
All of these discontinued brands are still supported by Globe Union through its Illinois service center, including parts replacement under warranty.
faucets have disappeared in the U.S. but are still sold in Canada, After Danze, Eurostream is Globe Union's major brand in Canada.
A similar banishment to Canada may be in store for the Danze brand.
Globe Union has begun the process of deemphasizing the Danze over the last few years in favor of Gerber-branded products.
Recent moves, including transferring ownership of the Danze tradname to its Canadian distributor, Canadian Tire Company, and its dramatic expansion of the number of Gerber-branded models appearing in the U.S., hint at the eventual disappearance of Danze faucets from the U.S. market.
ODM/OEM Manufacturing
In addition to its proprietary brands, Globe Union makes faucets and faucet components for many other faucet companies, including (See a more complete list in Table 2.)
The company also supplies dozens of store-brand faucets for large retailers. Table 3 shows no more than a partial list, which shifts constantly and is probably already inaccurate at the time you read this.
Testing & Certification
Globe Union has not always played by the rules.
It has been accused several times of counterfeiting faucets from other companies and had to settle with Faucet for pirating Delta's patented ball valve technology or face an International Trade Commission order banning its products from the U.S.
But, it has matured over the years as an international trading partner.
The company is now very meticulous at ensuring that its faucets comply with the laws and regulations applicable to each host country in which it does business.
In the U.S. and Canada, its faucets are certified to comply with all plumbing standards and are accepted by all U.S. and Canadian plumbing codes.
All Globe Union fauvcets are also certified lead-free under the very rigorous standard required by the U. S. Safe Drinking Water Act as of 2014 and may be "sold or leased" in Canada and "introduced into commerce" in the U.S.
The faucets also comply with the separate lead-free laws of Maryland, Louisiana, Vermont, and California and may be sold and installed in those states.
Warranty & Customer Support
Initially, Globe Union warranty and parts support was spotty and disorganized.
Through 2005 we received buckets of complaints about not being able to get post-sale customer support and warranty assistance. The big problem was no one knew where to call for support, and when they did finally contact customer support, the quality of the support was iffy at best.
Our favorite anecdote comes from the plumber who very carefully identified the exact faucet parts he needed to fix a broken Danze lavatory faucet and received most of a shower through the mail.
But, Globe Union gamely faced the slings and arrows head-on, and doggedly set about making things better.
The company now supports its faucets and other products as well as any company selling faucets in North America with a well-organized, well-trained U.S.-based parts and warranty service operation located in Illinois.
Since opening the U.S. center, earlier parts and warranty support problems seem to have largely disappeared.
In our last series of tests, Globe Union customer service scored well for wait times, promptness of response, and product knowledge.
We now assess Globe Union customer service as very good — approaching the level of Delta and Moen, the acknowledged customer service leaders in the faucet industry.
The Better Business Bureau, which for years condemned Globe Unvion's complaint handling, now grades the company an A+, the highest score possible, based on having received not a single complaint about the company for three years.
It has held this high rating for over a decade.
Globe Union not only supports its own brands but also the house brands it provides to retailers. A call to customer support for many Home Depot faucets sold by Lowes is likely to connect you to a Globe Union representative.
So far as we can tell, the support for these house brand faucets is just as capable as support for the Globe Union's proprietary brands.
Continuing Research
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Globe Union faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please starcraftreviews@yahoo.com or scroll down to post a comment below.
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