| Crystal owner says closing rumors are false |
|
By Joel Stottrup Rumors continue to surface that Crystal Cabinet Works in Princeton is closing its doors. The rumors are false, according to company owner and president Jeff Hammer last week. But the rumors have persisted enough within the past number of weeks that when Jill Crandall, assistant to the president, was asked recently to comment, she welcomed the chance. The rumors might have been fueled by the fact that Crystal laid off half its work force within the past year, a roster that had been close to 600, and cut the hours of other employees. Hammer gave the layoff figures during a telephone interview last week from his winter home in Florida. Crystal was happy to see 2009 end, Crandall said, referring to the company’s difficulties that year. The layoffs came as Crystal saw its cabinet orders drop as the nation experienced the after effects of the housing bust and record foreclosures. Home building plummeted and so did cabinet orders. Cut expenses, try to raise income “We, like many companies in our industry, are in a process of reinventing ourselves,” Crandall said. The reinventing, she explained, has been a combination of “defensive and offensive moves.” The defensive part, Crandall said, was downsizing “to become a smaller company.” Not only were there layoffs but Crystal closed its Sauk Rapids plant. Hammer said he doesn’t foresee it ever reopening. Besides the downsizing, the company has been examining how to improve its manufacturing, designs and marketing. On the manufacturing side, Crystal added a tunnel structure inside the plant’s paint department. The structure provides a controlled climate for finishing with fewer defects and also results in heating a much smaller finishing area, Hammer and Crandall said. Crystal employees looked at “our processes from a lean perspective and staying focused on things that make a difference,” Crandall said. Two other areas where the company has stepped up efforts, according to Crandall and Hammer, are marketing and benchmarking. Benchmarking, the two explained, is comparing a company’s product to those at other companies in the same industry. Crystal is looking at all facets, Hammer said, such as what the competition offers, what their cabinets are made of and their price. “We have four lines of cabinets, not just one line” so there is a lot of benchmarking to do, Hammer added. One cabinet could cost more than another but it may still be a better bargain because it has plywood instead of particle board, Hammer noted. “Things have to be a good deal, a bargain,” so that “at the end of the day I want that [product],” Hammer explained. New training room Crystal is also constructing an approximately 200 sq. ft. training room in the southeast corner of its plant. The people to be trained there will be cabinet dealers. “Our training is focused on educating our dealers on our complete produce offering and furthering our relationships with them,” Crandall said.” Crystal is planning a public grand opening of the training room in July. Crystal has ebbed and flowed Crystal Cabinet Works has ebbed and flowed since coming to Princeton in 1975 after a big fire destroyed the plant it had in Rogers. The company only had 60 workers in Rogers before the fire, according to Hammer. It reopened in Princeton with 40 workers in what was then the JN Johnson building where fire extinguisher cabinets were built. Five years later Crystal moved into a new building at its present site and Plastic Products took over the JN Johnson building. Crystal had a few expansions at its new building and, at one time, had a peak workforce of about 900. But it later pared the workforce down to about 600, a number it maintained for some time until the big layoffs of 2009. Hammer was asked about the prospects of hiring back some of the laid-off workers. He answered that the company would first have to bring Crystal’s work weeks back up to full, since it had pared them back to save costs. One of the main strategies being used to do that, Hammer continued, is “aggressively getting new dealers,” Hammer adding that the company has succeeded in acquiring some “nice dealers.” He also said Crystal wants to get more commercial accounts. When housing was a strong industry, Crystal’s kitchen cabinet business was strong and the company “laid back” from the commercial end, Hammer said. Benchmarking is very important too, Hammer said, explaining that what was good in the cabinet industry “2-5 years ago is not good today. We have to stay on top where the competition is.” He added that “cabinetry is a big fashion industry,” meaning looks and design are important to the consumer. Reflecting on the downsizing of the company roster, Hammer lauded company management for being able to control the cost of its labor. If a company didn’t do that, it could quickly lose its ability to succeed, Hammer said.
Hammer and Crandall said they are seeing a pick up in the company’s business, calling “January strong.” The two also said they believe it has a lot to do with the changes the company has been making. Hammer recalls some tough economies before, noting that about 30 years ago interest rates were close to 20 percent. But this is the “NFL in cabinet making,” Hammer continued, comparing the current economic climate for cabinet making to the recent pro football playoffs. “This is where the game gets intense.” Other cabinet-making companies are trying to “kick butt and take our business,” he said. “It’s like the Vikings and the Saints [who played for the NFC championship on Jan. 24]. It’s very competitive.” But Hammer, who exhibited a positive attitude more than a decade ago when he weathered a cancer diagnosis and returned to better health, expressed the same optimism last week. “With a good attitude you can do anything,” he said. “We set the stage for what needs to be done.” He called the rumors that say Crystal Cabinet Works is folding “stupid,” and that Crystal is “far from that situation.” The Vikings “handed the [NFC title] game” to Saints,” Hammer said, explaining that he is doing everything he knows and can think of to not do that with his company. Comments (1)
 ...
written by milaca resident , February 10, 2010 Glad to hear that the rumors are finally put to rest! It is about time. Write comment
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
