“If someone wants a pecky cypress kitchen, we can do it without a problem,” Parron says. “Most manufacturers can’t do it, but I work with a shop that can build whatever I want locally.” About 15% of his clients choose to use shop-built cabinetry. The rest opt for the custom lines of Neff or Wood-Mode, two manufacturers that Parron represents. The fact that Parron isn’t limited to a single manufacturer when offering product styles to customers is a differentiating factor, along with the company’s 20-plus-year reputation in the cabinet business.
QUALITY AND FOLLOW-THROUGH With $1.9 million in annual sales, The Kitchen Center caters to the discerning client who is willing to pay $75,000 for cabinets alone. In 2005, John Goldman of Coral Gables hired the company to remodel the kitchen in his 30-year-old home. In sore need of an upgrade, the home’s kitchen was completely gutted and redone to reflect modern tastes and times, according to Goldman, who says he was especially pleased with the company’s follow-through.
“It’s rare to find someone in a trade business who will do what they say they will,” Goldman says. “In the case of The Kitchen Center, they not only represent some very high-quality kitchen cabinetmakers, but they also did everything they said they would do in terms of making and installing the types of cabinets we requested, and at the best price. They also finished the job in a timely fashion, and within specifications.”
With most of his business coming from referrals, Parron smiles when he hears such feedback from customers. He credits a willingness to diversify and cater to those customers’ needs with helping him not only bring his business back from near-dead four years ago, but also with keeping sales growth healthy and manageable. If, for example, someone wants wall units or closets, Parron will design them. And if someone wants furniture, he’ll design that, too.
Parron also stays on top of current tastes and styles through his affiliation with the National Kitchen & Bath Association, for example, for which he served as southern chapter president in 2006. Right now, he says exotic woods such as teak and sycamore, and countertops of concrete, quartz, or precious stone are all the rage. “Customers are looking for a modern feel that’s Zen-like but futuristic,” Parron says. “They don’t want run-of-the-mill cherries and maples.”
PATH TO GROWTH The remodeler says finding good employees for his small business is a constant challenge. “If I knew the method to that madness, they’d all be working for me,” he says. The fact that factory showrooms have upped their salaries and benefits packages doesn’t help, says Parron, who on occasion has tried to poach workers from those larger firms.
“When I tried to lure away some people, their companies doubled their salaries in order to keep them,” says Parron, who has his eye on the $4 million sales mark for The Kitchen Center and hopes to hit that point in the next few years. One path to that growth includes pursuing work with the developers of South Florida condominiums. Parron started late last year with a 40-unit renovation project. His company is designing, building, and installing top-of-the-line cabinetry for these multimillion-dollar units.
“We’re going to be a bit more on the cutting edge of stuff while sticking with our niche,” Parron says. “Ultimately, as long as we do good work and service our clients in the best way possible, we won’t have any problems.
Bridget McCrea is a freelance writer based in Dunedin, Fla.