There’s much to be said for time-honored craftsmanship surviving the onslaught of 21st-century fast fashion, whether that’s on catwalks or in kitchens. With a sleek new website and a premium portfolio, Craft-Maid Handmade Cabinetry understands that true, enduring appeal is layered into the details of good design.
Preserving the knowledge and expertise of master cabinetmakers, many of whose time at Craft-Maid Handmade Cabinetry stretches across two, three, and even four decades, Craft-Maid is where the art of perfecting the detail is passed on to younger generations.
Established in 1969 and still based in Reading, Pennsylvania after a half-century of supplying Americans with handmade excellence, Craft-Maid remains a home to genuine artisans, and the company continues to exude passion and infectious enthusiasm.
It isn’t just human capital that sets the company apart. Underpinning its proud craftsmanship is an enviable stable of sophisticated and genuinely unique equipment (some of it custom-built by the team itself on-site). “We’re very automated in certain processes; we’ve married the best of two worlds,” explains Stuart B. Zager, Founder and President.
Employing many of the region’s best artisans, the firm is known for the fact that its craftspeople can make anything a client can visualize, exquisitely finished and to exacting detail. “We can do anything they draw,” says Zager. As a result, Craft-Maid’s processes are meticulous and precision-oriented, building in layer upon layer of quality assurance.
While historically, the company’s traditional carved-wood kitchens were nothing short of sublime, current trends demand more surface simplicity while delivering built-in sophistication and luxury at every touch. “The biggest trend is contemporary design: more veneers, greater simplicity,” says Phil Lipschultz, Vice President of Operations. “It looks simple but is very high-end and filled with accessories.”
Craft-Maid’s styles range from full overlay cabinet doors to doors set flush with cabinet frames. There is also a more complex, beaded option that demands high precision throughout the design and fabrication process. Based on these three main styles, the company creates endless varieties of fresh, crisp aesthetics. In short, a Craft-Maid kitchen is as much a physical experience of luxury as a visual one.
One big seller is its grain-aligned cabinets, where doors and drawer fronts are cut from a single log to create exquisite continuity across the overall design. “Once people see it, they never forget it,” Lipschultz says.
With each Craft-Maid Handmade Cabinetry delivery, its dealers and end users are assured of a kitchen that fits and functions perfectly upon installation. According to General Manager Dave Kerschner, who has been with the company for over 20 years, none of Craft-Maid’s custom kitchens include mass-fabricated wood elements. This reality drives tremendous attention to even the minutest detail in the design data.
It also means that the company continuously invests in new equipment, ensuring that its artisans have all the latest technology to support their handcrafted work. Many people—rightly—admire high-level carpentry for being among the most artisanal and artistic of trades, but for Craft-Maid in the 21st century, purchasing new machinery also remains an ongoing pursuit. Zager points out the realities of built-in obsolescence, demanding replacement every half decade or so, in comparison to the (more environmentally sustainable) systems of old that only needed their saw blades and motors replaced to run for another decade or more at a time.
In the past year alone, Craft-Maid has purchased more than five new machines, significantly improving its already generous production volumes. It also recently purchased a new high-end laser cutting machine that wood-brands drawers with dealers’ logos quickly and efficiently. In addition, the company has added several hundred feet of custom-built conveyor belts to its fabrication outfit to speed up and simplify the transportation of construction elements across the 100,000-square-foot facility.
As the descendant of a line of carpentry experts, Kerschner could not be more pleased with the company’s team and the tremendous craftsmanship and pride they bring to their work. While finding labor is more difficult now than in the past, he remains positive. “Coming across people that have cabinetmaking in their roots is a little tough. But we’re still finding enough people that can learn,” he says.
These labor shifts have changed the process dynamics slightly, yet in ways that work well. Whereas a single artisan may have built an entire cabinet in the past, individuals today specialize in specific, niche tasks across more than one department. “Dave and I grew up with a wood shop in our basements. It’s something that people get a knack for,” says Zager, with palpable enthusiasm. He built his first kitchen cabinets at 23 and never looked back. “We have a good group of knowledgeable people working here,” he adds.
This level of collective expertise has brought the company a large, loyal, and even famous clientele over the years. Luckily, you don’t have to be rich and famous to afford Craft-Maid kitchens. The company builds custom kitchens for homes across the board. Its cabinets remain affordable, despite being somewhat more costly than low-end stock kitchens. That’s because, when comparing overall project costs, choosing this level of quality generally adds only around five percent to a project, Zager estimates.
Craft-Maid’s team is engaged and invested. “We really appreciate them. They’re very dedicated and accurate in what they do,” says Zager, noting how special it is to see the entire staff work with diligence and commitment to quality.
Reflecting on the joys of employing quality people, he also notes the value in seeing individuals work with such dedication and focus. While things naturally do get busy, these leaders are not people who let the small ways people contribute slip by unnoticed. With the firm’s longest-standing employee recently retiring after 41 years, the entire team looks forward to continuing to build such enduring relationships.
To ensure that everyone in the company has a similar experience of closeness, communication, and satisfaction at work, a recent addition of 20 new offices, set closer to the fabrication outfit than the original building (which was entirely separate), now brings everyone into the same space. The design features ample clear windows, ergonomically planned and improved workflow, and an all-new layout that enhances connectivity.
The company’s growth strategy aims at quality above all. So, while maintaining the integrity and luxury of artisanal carpentry, there is a policy of taking on work that challenges the team. In this way, people stay stimulated and current, and revel in the pleasures of the challenge, finding ways to make kitchens even more beautiful and better functioning. In this way, the company’s pioneering spirit comes to the fore, with its staff’s creativity and engineering expertise leading the way. One such example is Kerschner’s contribution to leading the rebuilding of legacy machinery that is still going strong.
Finally, Zager is adamant that here, every project is a big project. “It’s satisfying when you see something you created and how much it is doing for people,” he says. And he’s right. By celebrating old-fashioned values, Craft-Maid Handmade Cabinetry is achieving tremendous results in modern ways.
