It is hard to believe we are in mid-January already, the Christmas and the New Year holidays are a distant memory.  Where has the time gone?  As I reflect on all the events that occurred in 2011 and ponder what 2012 has yet to be, I am optimistic!

While the economic downturn brought about great stress and hardships, I believe that we can all say that we learned a lot!  The necessity of reducing expenses while increasing productivity has brought about a new realization of what business must look like while generating a resilience we did not know we had.

Many companies have responded to the downturn by utilizing cheaper materials in an effort to produce a less expensive cabinet.  After talking with many of our clients and listening to their comments, I determined that we would move in the opposite direction!  We have increased the quality of our cabinetry by integrating better materials and implementing significant improvements into our product line, while maintaining current pricing.  In so doing, we have created a product with a much better value – price ratio!  To offset the increased material costs, we reviewed each expenditure related to operations and overhead costs to determine if it is absolutely necessary and vital for healthy business operations.  It is amazing how many little expenditures can be eliminated and the impact that makes to the bottom line.

Presently, we are cataloging these updates and improvements along with several new items, which we will be unveiling to our designers in the coming months.  I am excited about the new products and enhancements we have made and feel that the designers will have an opportunity to have great discussions with their clients.

I see 2012 filled with countless opportunities but one must understand that a farmer is always optimistic!

Christiana holds Product Training Class

Several times a year, Christiana Cabinetry host’s events that provide designers an opportunity to learn more about the cabinetry we build as well as new products that  are being developed. It’s also a time for Christiana to gather ideas about how we might improve our products and services.

The most recent training class was held on Oct 24^th & 25^th.  This event was especially interesting since the designers that attended were from various parts of the country and Canada giving the event an international flavor.

Even after 35⁺ years in the industry, I am constantly looking for ways to improve what we do.  It’s important to me that everyone involved with Christiana Cabinetry be kept current with the latest product improvements and be knowledgeable about new products being released. Providing a good quality cabinet is a given, however, I am just as concerned about providing our designers and our clients stellar service. When I make a purchase, I am always delighted when someone exceeds my expectations so I try to pass along that same anticipation to our clients.

After a day of talking about cabinets, moldings and doors, it’s time to enjoy a wonderful dinner at my home. Spending time around a table full of delicious food is really the essence of what the kitchen business is all about. As the evening progressed many stories were shared, some of them quite serious, others very humorous.  Through laughter and tears I realized that these shared life experiences bind us together.  We began the event as colleagues, and we departed as a family!  What more can one ask?

After chatting with several designers who specify Christiana Cabinetry in their projects, I was curious to learn how interested their clients are in purchasing safe and durable  products. As a result of these conversations I was prompted to make changes to the “Cabinetry Construction” area of our website. You may review these changes at
www.christianacabinetry.com.

I thought it might be of interest to you to discover the criteria that are used to determine how we construct our cabinetry.

The kitchen is the most mechanically involved area of the home and requires a significant investment. Life happens in and around this area so any change or disruption will complicate the normal routine of the house.  Outside of normal family life most of the entertaining is done in the kitchen area. Since the early 1970’s the kitchen reflects an individual’s statement of style. Realizing this we have made the following determinations;

We will build our cabinetry with the best materials available.

• The clients that commissioned furniture and cabinetry 35 years ago are still enjoying their pieces today.

We will conduct our business so that we can accommodate any design style.

• While technology is wonderful, we wouldn’t allow it to dictate what we can or can’t build. Sometimes building a custom item can’t be automated and must be completely hand-crafted.

Our cabinetry will be constructed of safe materials

• Most companies will tout that their finishes are “Low HAPS” or “HAPS compliant. The finishes that we use are formaldehyde and isocyanide free.
  • We upgraded to this finish because;
  • I was concerned for the safety of our employees. All of the finishes that we have ever used have been compliant, knowing some of the chemicals that the finish contains concerned me.  Each of our employees are very  important and  valuable, I couldn’t live with the reality that their health was at risk.
  • I am a father and a grandfather, my children and grandchildren are the greatest gift I could ever hope for.  Having harmful chemicals in my home as well as yours is not an option.
  • Our new finishes are far superior in moisture resistance and wear-ability than the finish that previously used.
  • Despite the fact that the Santé’ and Avenir finish materials costs Christiana Cabinetry approximately 110% more that the conversion varnish we had previously used, I am happy with the benefits (noted above) that everyone enjoys. Our new spray equipment that was needed to apply this finish has drastically reduced our finish material waste, thus allowing us to maintain current pricing.
  • Christiana Cabinetry was environmentally conscientious long before it was socially acceptable because it’s our way of life….

We are back in business! Power was restored last evening around 6:30 pm. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and remember our friends along the eastern seaboard who are still struggling with the aftermath of Irene. Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you.

The effects of Hurricane Irene are still lingering. While we here in Christiana, were virtually unscathed with trees down and minor flooding, we are still without power.

Electricity is not expected to be running again until late Wednesday evening. If you have an emergency please contact Randy Brotzman at 484-459-7391, or Jerry Metzler at 610-593-7514. We are working with the electric company to get the power back on sooner and will send another e-mail when the electricity is up and running.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and hope that each of you on the East Coast were not too severely effected by Irene.

I must admit, I take communication for granted. We pick up a telephone, dial a number and instantly are connected with the one we want to chat with.  Somehow this tool has been broken.  For the last two months we have been experiencing some rather frustrating phone problems. While we think we know what the problem is, our carrier’s, Frontier & Verizon Communications beg to differ with us, even if 95% of our clients that we polled (as Frontier & Verizon asked) were customers of these carriers. Could it be that one of these companies is selling their landline portion of the business to the other in the midst of a labor dispute have anything to do with the problem? They say no, perhaps they are embarrassed to admit this is the reason, or they don’t know what the problem is, let alone know how to fix it!

In the course of business, people tell us that sometimes they receive an operator message that our phone lines have been disconnected, are no longer in service, or that the number is not valid at all.  Sometimes the person calling will be connected but cannot hear us when we answer. Fortunately, we have caller ID so if you do call and cannot hear us, we will call you back. If you try several times and cannot connect (even if you do and we can’t hear you), you may e-mail us at info@christianacabinet.com, and that message will be forwarded to the appropriate person to call you back. However, be sure to include contact information so we can respond back to you.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and hope that in the very near future this will finally be resolved.

Regards,
Jerry

Christiana Cabinetry is proud to announce that a collection of 10 reconstituted veneers is now available. While genuine veneers will continue to be offered, “reconstituted” veneers offer the designer some options not currently available with genuine veneers.

Reconstituted Veneers are created by gluing together (laminating) many slices of veneer to create a block. The block is then recut in a way that the end-grain becomes the graining of the “Reconstituted Veneer”. To prevent the grain from being perfectly straight, the contours of the laminations are maneuvered to provide any desired configuration. Reconstituted Veneer may also be dyed to provide various colors and shades.This product allows the “natural” substance to be maintained while offering product consistency in coloration and graining.  If the manufacturing process is precise, it is difficult to determine if the veneer is real or reconstituted.

The benefits of utilizing reconstituted veneers:

•    Uniform colors from one project to the next
•    Uniform grain patterns
•    Less costly than real veneers
•    Could be considered a green product

Several designers that have utilized these veneers in their projects have reported very positive results.

May 7th was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Bozeman, MT; I was there to celebrate the “Grand Opening” of the new showroom Sage Kitchens owned by Susan Curtis. This event was the result of many months of planning and hard work and the smile on Susan’s face indicated the joy that she felt as people started streaming in the door. I was privileged to meet many interesting individuals that attended the event including a real estate broker who focused on selling fly-fishing ranches up to 10,000 acres, an artist who creates beautiful tiles, and an interesting journalist.

Susan has represented Christiana Cabinetry in Montana since she started her business in 2006. During this time, I have been privileged to see many interesting kitchens she has created. While Susan is comfortable creating contemporary designs, the “Western Rustic” design theme is requested most by Susan’s clients.

Have you considered specifying LED lighting in the interior of the cabinetry you design?

I have seen cabinetry with interior lighting in many showrooms however; I never considered it a necessity until after I have experienced it in an actual working kitchen.  Many vendors have been advertising and promoting interior cabinet lighting, however I have been impressed with the new Loox lighting product line that Hafele recently introduced.  It features LED lighting that offers many benefits.  Several benefits include extremely low energy consumption, no heat and a long service life of 40,000- 50,000 hours at a relatively low cost.

To the best of my knowledge, every refrigerator has lighting inside to help us see what we are looking for; why not consider installing lighting into pantry’s and base corner cabinets as well?  I believe your clients will appreciate the ability to see everything that is stored in their cabinets.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about this product.

It seems one of the most commonly asked questions is “What new products are you working on”?

A very interesting project recently went thru the factory that had 1” thick doors. The door featured the 1” Colonial framing bead with the wide Euro panel raise and 3 ½” stiles and rails. The 1” Colonial bead was accentuated by the thickness of the door and the wide panel raise narrowed the flat area of the raised panel. When compared to a ¾” thick door, the 1” thick door was dramatically different.

For comparison purposes, I would suggest that you obtain two doors that are exactly the same, but one ¾” thick and the other 1” thick. When compared with each other the differences are very apparent.

When leaving for Europe I did not realize that I would be visiting “The Living Kitchen Show” in Cologne, Germany. As I indicated earlier, my plans were to meet with designers and architects to learn about the kitchen business in Europe. I was also interested in seeing if the possibility existed to market and sell cabinetry made in America, in Europe.

My last visit to the “kitchen” show in Cologne was in 2000. It seems that after the Eurocucina show held in Milan the following year, interest in the Cologne show waned and eventually ceased to exist.

After monumental efforts put forth by some very committed people over the past year, the show returned. It was very exciting to be a part of this event. From the moment I stepped off of the train, I could tell it was going to be special. There were buses waiting to take people directly from the train station to the entrance of the Kitchen Show. The three halls that housed the kitchen portion of the show were very crowded compared to the other halls that contained furniture and other home furnishings.

This new show was quite a departure from the old show since now appliance and plumbing manufactures could be in the same hall with the kitchen displays. “We now have our own KBIS,” said one exhibitor that was familiar with and had visited the KBIS show, here in the US.

I was very interested to learn that the “new” Cologne show was organized to show products that are currently available for consumers to purchase, unlike Eurocucina, where design concepts are exhibited and not readily available for purchase. The pictures attached are a kitchen that was constructed by an Italian firm and available for purchase. The peninsula/island is complete with a fiberglass boat hull and incorporates a cooktop in the raised center area. I am not sure how much demand there is for this design but it demonstrates creative thinking and a company that is not afraid of taking a chance.

After several delays in my flights to Amsterdam, I met the manufacturing trade representative for Pennsylvania, Nadine Spath. Traveling from PA, I was expecting the same cold weather in the Netherlands but I was met with delightfully warm 45° rainy weather. Ms. Spath arranged for me to meet with Hans van der Doelen, who owned a showroom, which was located in the delightful town of Boxtel. It was a treat to meet with Hans as well as his son and discuss the many complexities of the “kitchen” business. After several cups of coffee we then had to hurry off to our next appointment with Mark Iesberts, Director of `De Keuken Designers`, a buying organization of 23 kitchen designers and producers in the Netherlands. Mark gave me a detailed look into the some of the challenges facing the Dutch market which included current design trends, purchasing procedures and market trends. Before Mark gave me a tour of his 1,350 m² kitchen show room, I was privileged to see some interesting statistics, which further defined the Dutch Market as well as the Dutch consumer. I am very excited about working with Mark to explore the feasibility of marketing our cabinetry in the European market.

2011 has arrived! We are happy (at least I am) to get back into the rhythm of building cabinetry.

You may be interested to know that 85% of the orders that are currently being built receive either a painted or paint/glazed finish. I am not sure what is driving this demand for painted finishes, it could be that paint has always been a desired finish or it could be (based on comments we have heard) that designers and clients love the quality of the paint finish itself. Either way, painted finishes seem to be gaining in popularity.

In a few days I will have the opportunity to visit a number of kitchen showrooms in Holland and Germany and get to interact with several architects and kitchen designers. I am very curious to hear their ideas and thoughts about the future trends.

Today, I had the good fortune of meeting with Ralph and Carolyn Metzler, two good friends that I met in Kentucky about 15 years ago.  Ralph and Carolyn were the directors of a project in which homes that were destroyed by a tornado were being rebuilt.  In helping these folks who lost everything they had was an experience that I will never forget.

Since we share the last name, we were interested to know if somehow we were related.  I wished that I had paid more attention to my parents and grandparents when they would go through those long genealogies of how I was somehow related to seemly everyone in Lancaster County.  Remembering the names of my father and grandfather was easy, but getting to the generations beyond that was difficult.

Ralph and Carolyn sent me the history of the Metzler’s back to the first person who came to America.  In 1738, at 12 years of age, Valentine Metzler traveled from Switzerland to England and then to Philadelphia. Words cannot describe my emotions when I discovered my Grandparents names in that history. It was as though I was reconnected again with my roots and my heritage.

As 2010 quietly ends, I have a lot to think about.

Welcome to the new the Christiana Cabinetry website. We are happy that your search for fine cabinetry has led you to this site. As you browse through the pages, you will discover what makes our cabinetry so unique and attractive to homeowners across the globe.  My personnel convictions have driven me to create and innovate ways to provide cabinetry that include all of the features and detailing of fine craftsmanship while offering the latest fashions and designs. I was concerned about the health and safety of each of our employees as well as our client’s and their children; that’s why all our cabinetry has no added formaldehyde in the glue of our materials or in our finishes preventing harmful off-gassing in your home.

Many of the designers that I interact with find my life a bit unusual and have asked for updates on the latest innovations in cabinetry, my travels, interactions with different designers and some of my life outside Christiana Cabinetry raising corn and cows (and some other unusual animals). Stop back to hear about what’s  been happening.