Closets By Design raises the bar in Louisville
Designing and fabricating closets and other organization systems for a living wasn't what Matthew Stetten, owner of Closets By Design in Louisville, Ky., had planned to do with his life. After returning home from a three-week business trip, Stetten, who formerly worked in international sales, discovered his closet had fallen down. He called around to a few closet companies in the area, but had very little luck.
"I was home for three days, and I tried to call some companies to have the situation fixed. I hated how I was treated — absolutely hated it," Stetten says. "I scheduled two appointments for the next morning, and neither of the people I called managed to make it on time or even show. No one bothered to call me to let me know they weren't coming, and that was my first interaction with the closet industry. I was a professional who was used to working in industry, and if you were five minutes late you never got your meeting. I thought, 'How on earth can people be surviving in this industry after treating people this way?' It made me angry."
After calling the two companies to discuss the problem, which neither had an answer for but did offer to reschedule when it was convenient for Stetten, he had had enough and decided to fix the problem on his own.
"I went to one of the big home stores and bought some material and kind of did it myself, and it looked like I did it myself."
About six months later he came across a Closets By Design showroom in California. He told them he thought Louisville would be a great location for one of their stores, and they suggested he open a franchise in his area. With that, Stetten switched careers and entered the closet business.
Working with the Customer
Closets By Design Louisville offers complete design consultation, designing of closets, samples, production and installation all under one roof. In addition to closets, the company also manufactures garage systems, home offices, pantries and various other home projects, such as craft rooms, Stetten explains.
After a customer contacts Closets By Design, an appointment will be set up with a designer to meet with him or her in the home to discuss the project, usually within a day or two of the call. "It can vary from a half hour or 45 minutes to over two hours, depending on how large of a project and how involved the homeowner wishes to become. Our designers will work with the homeowner; they'll sort of work hand in hand to come up with a plan together," Stetten says.
After the meeting, the designer will produce a drawing — either by hand or using KCDw CAD software. After the details — colors, accessories, hardware, etc. — are worked out, Closets By Design sets up an install date with the customer, which tends to be one to three weeks later, depending on how complicated the project is.
"Usually three weeks is long. Sometimes, if it's really intricate, I've had it as long as four, but I really like to do projects within a week or one to three weeks. It's a very fast turnaround," Stetten says.
Designing and Building the Closets
Closets By Design employs five part-time designers.
"I have designers who use the traditional method of drawing it by hand with grid sheets, and I also have a KCDw program that several of my designers use as well. Some people like computers; some people like to draw them by hand," Stetten says. "It's kind of whichever one is more efficient for the designer [work with]."
Regardless of how the drawing was produced, the job is then sent to the cut list department. "At the current time, I am doing much of that by hand, whether it's a CAD drawing or not. The next phase, with some of the equipment we're looking to purchase here, we'll probably implement more and transition into it reading the software and going right into the machines. At the current time though, we're making the actual cut lists. Some of the larger [Closets by Design] locations that are producing a larger volume certainly are doing that; I'm just not quite at that stage yet."
Since new projects are always coming in and other projects are being sent off for install, there can be anywhere from 10 to 40 projects in the works at one time, Stetten says.
Stetten says the majority of the three-week lead time comes from waiting for materials that might not be in stock — accessories, knobs and pulls, which the company has supplied by Rev-A-Shelf, Häfele, Sidelines and October Company. "Typically that is what dictates the wait — certain colors or knobs or mouldings and pieces that we ordered. During the first step we produce the cut sheet and then take a look at inventory items that are kept, items that are not kept, and items that are specific, especially raised panel doors. Specialty raised panel door faces are things we do not produce in-house. We'll order those. The shelves, panel pieces … those things are all done here."
Once the piece parts are received, Closets By Design will assemble the drawers and attach the doors.
Closets by Design is working toward creating a more highly automated shop, but that will take some time, Stetten says.
"I think it's fairly automated — I'm probably middle of the road. You can make it much more [automated]. There are people in our corporation around the country that are heavily automated with CNC machines and direct cut lists right off the drawings. We're not there, but we're not your uncle's shop with the guy with the tape measure and a drill press trying to make shelving.
"We're somewhere in the middle. I think we have some good equipment that speeds up the process. I was able to come into the industry with the financing to buy some larger pieces and larger machines. Have I gone full CNC and full automation yet? No. Is that my plan? Certainly, that's where I wish to be, but again my market and size have to grow a little bit to justify some of those pieces."
Stetten predicts he'll be able to buy some more machinery to help with automation in the next four to five years. Before that can happen though, "my market needs to evolve to the point where it is in other parts of the country, where it's very standard to see closet upgrades done; whereas in Louisville, we're still at the point of educating the marketplace in terms of our product," he says.
Educating the Marketplace
Stetten says one of his biggest challenges is trying to educate their customers on seeing space.
"It's very difficult to do it. Certain people you're dealing with — builders or interior design folks — are much savvier at reading designs and drawings. There are certain people who just have a tough time visualizing it. I find that's where our CAD software or our 3-D pictures can be very helpful. I think that's one way to help it," Stetten says.
Since closets are a luxury item for many customers, the down housing market and economy as a whole "have put the breaks on many projects," says Stetten. "Sometimes your projects get put on the back burner. Getting people excited about doing projects around their home is probably a challenge, but that's what we try to accomplish with our advertising and promotional pieces."
Stetten is taking the challenges the economy poses head-on and is making sure customers in the Louisville market know who he is.
"I think my major goal is to position ourselves in the market as the dominate company in my area. Right now consumer confidence is lower. In the building industry there are several builders going in and out of business; there are remodelers and people who are just pulling up in pickup trucks and doing projects. I think confidence needs to be established through your image and your dominance and approach. That's something I'm really trying to focus on in our market.
"We're not doing this as a hobby; we're one of the larger [companies] in our area. Confidence is generally gained quickly through reputation and image — from our trucks to what our installers wear, everything. It's certainly a professional looking experience, and it's an organized experience. We sell organization, so our scheduling is organized, our installs are organized, and people are kept abreast of the whole process and what's going on with their order. We send out notices; we make phone calls."
Improving the Standard
Stetten believes the more interaction Midwesterners have with other regions of the country — be it through magazines, home improvement shows on TV or in person — the more likely they will start to view closets and other home features as standards.<
"Everyone talks in our area about what a great value the home is here. I think — with all of the craziness that's going on — you still receive a good value for your dollar here, but I also think a lot of the homes are lacking many of the bells and whistles and toys that come standard in other markets. I just think demanding more from your new construction is where we need to be. That's coming slowly with time, just like everything else. It's one thing to be a trend vs. an expectation. I don't view closets as a trend," concludes Stetten.