When he was a kid, Jason Sevinor told his father he was “absolutely not’’ going to join the family’s plumbing supply business. He thought he might want to be a veterinarian.

Sevinor went off to Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in marketing, human resource management, and psychology.

After college, he entered a management-training program at Ferguson Enterprises, a competitor to his family’s business.

“I wanted to explore the business and do it on my own and see if I liked it,’’ Sevinor said. “If there was an opportunity at the family business, great. If not, I could do it elsewhere.’’

Salem Plumbing was established in 1945 by Sevinor’s grandfather, William. In the late 1970s, Jason’s father, Ralph, expanded it to become Designer Bath and Salem Plumbing Supply. The showroom moved from Salem to 97 River St. in Beverly in 1984, and opened a second location in Gloucester in 2007.

Designer Bath and Salem Plumbing Supply has won many “best of’’ accolades over the years, and recently received the 2016 Family Business Award from Northeastern University.

We talked with Jason Sevinor (below), 40, of Beverly, the third generation to run the business.

Q. Industry changes?

A. The amount of options available. Plumbing is very technical today and complicated. The challenge for the consumer is to create the most value for themselves and that comes from service and the selection process.

Q. Customers?

A. Fifty percent homeowners and the rest builders, contractors, developers, etc.

Q. Approach?

A. We don’t sell online. Things look, feel, and operate differently in person than on a screen. The height of a toilet is important and people come in and sit on them, and they put their heads in the steam of the showers.

Q. Cost?

A. If someone wants a $100 kitchen faucet, we have it. If someone wants commercial grade appliances, we have that, too. We work with people from starter homes to grand homes.

Q. Trends?

A. Cleaner lines, open and airy. Freestanding tubs. And showers with multiple heads, steam, aroma therapy, speaker systems, and seats.

For bathroom vanities, granite and marble are still popular, but we have seen a surge in man-made stone, which is nonporous and impervious to staining.

Q. Your job?

A. It’s in my blood; funny how things happen.

WENDY KILLEEN

Wendy Killeen can be reached at wdkilleen@gmail.com.