Closets Magazine - March 2017

Taking your closet business to next level

Conference sessions focus on certification, design, and marketing to millennials.

CABINETS & CLOSETS 2017 | By Bill Esler

With a thriving building and remodeling market as backdrop, the 2017 Cabinets & Closets Conference and Expo returns to Chicagoland April 11-13, coming to the Renaissance Convention Center in suburban Schaumburg, Illinois.

With the business climate much improved, closet businesses and cabinetmakers are contending with the challenges that accompany growth, such as ;nding and training workers, maintaining consistent quality, and reaching new markets for the next generation of customers. “Taking Business to the Next Level” is the overall theme for the three-track conference on April 11, followed April 12-13 by a two-day expo expected to be the largest ever staged for closets and cabinet markets. Around 100 exhibitors will be showing design and manufacturing technology for cabinetry, closets and home organization systems, along with panel, functional and decorative hardware, and business applications.

Design trends such as lively patterns, embossed-in-register panel surfaces, thin-stile glass doors, inventive and active organizational hardware and components, and more painted cabinetry will be discussed at this year’s show. The conference begins with a keynote address by Chris Stevens, “Small Business Numbers that Matter.” Stevens will share strategies drawn from his years in business development, including a pivotal role in the launch of the Keurig Coffee Maker.

The conference then splits into three tracks:
• Closets Track: Growing a Pro;table Business
• Cabinets Track: Power Up Your Business
• Lean Management: Center for Lean Learning
Attendees are free to mix and match sessions from different tracks.

They will gather mid-day for a peer-to-peer lunch, then board buses at 3: 30 p.m. for a tour of Inter Ocean Cabinet Company, sponsored by Stiles Machinery, followed by a networking reception. A single registration fee for the conferences includes all sessions, lunch, refreshment breaks, plant tour, and reception after.

Feeding the sales pipeline through marketing and management will be covered, with sessions on marketing to millennials, project photography, and “Lead Generation Myths that Cost Closets Companies Money,” presented by Todd Bairstow, principal and founder of Keywords Connect.

Denise Butchko will talk about “Marketing to Millennials vs.

Boomers,” their consumer hot buttons and preferences.

During her presentation, “Real Fakes,” materials and design
specialist Grace Jeffers will examine the origin of colors and
patterns entering the lexicon of surfaces and panel speci;-
cation. She will explain how to shift the conversation with
clients to try new looks and
approaches. Jeffers speaks
April 11 during the Closets
Track at Cabinets & Clos-
ets 2017.

New this year is on-site Closet Design Certi;cation by ACSP. And a Green Cabinet conference for Columbia Forest Products

850-member PureBond Fabricator Network takes place April 12.

There will also be workforce development sessions covering how to hire methodically and set job descriptions; and using Lean Management to contend with a tightening job market. Construction and remodeling businesses say they turn down work because of designer and installer shortages.

Best Hiring Practices will be presented by Jessica Trippler and Bob Gaudrea of consultancy Brink Results. “We help organizations determine the behaviors needed to produce the results for a certain position,” says Jessica Trippler, a human resources specialist from Brink Results. “After the job position has been assessed through our review and questionnaire process, we then assess the candidate.” The Center for Lean Learning’s Brad Cairns will team with The two-day expo is expected to be the largest ever staged for closets and cabinet markets.