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Description
The evolution of a cabinet shop
By Jackie Roembke
Diversification doubles revenue at West End Industries
The Burpeau family prides itself on the way its company, West End Industries, has been able to adapt over the years. Adding and subtracting the offerings the market would or would not bear, the company has redefined itself a number of times since its inception nearly 70 years ago.
In the late 1940s, Charles Burpeau founded the original West End Cabinets in Miami, Fla. His son, Robert, worked for other Florida cabinet shops before relocating his family to Black Mountain, a little known North Carolina town where the demand for custom cabinetry was high.
In 1977, Robert and his wife, Jan, started building custom residential cabinetry out of their garage. By 1984, the family had generated enough business to build a 2,000-sq.-ft. facility. Later in the 1990s, before it relocated into a 5,000-sq.-ft. building, the commercial portion of its business had grown substantially; however, the residential side had subsided. The company decided to drop its residential offerings and form the strictly commercial West End Industries. By this time, Jan and Robert's son, Allen had begun working for the company.
"Anytime one area begins slowing down we're able to fall back on another facet of the business," Allen Burpeau, West End Industries' production manager, explains.
As the workload... |
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