Cabinet design and sales business opportunity without the large overhead

by Heidi Riley

Greg Stohler has been designing and installing kitchens for 36+ years. He is originally from the US and moved to PEI 18 years ago.

“I had a very successful cabinet business in the US, sold it, met my future wife, and moved to PEI,” says Greg. “About three years ago, we were looking at building a house, and I could not find someone to provide the cabinets who would give me a quick turnaround on a quote. I had to wait three or four weeks.

“When I was running my business in the US, my turnaround for giving a quote was usually about three to four days. I thought I could do the same on the Island, my wife challenged me to give it a try, and we did very well. We sold seven kitchens the first year, and we will do about 15 this year.”

Greg does not have employees. He does all the work of promoting, meeting with customers, designing the kitchens and preparing 3-D renderings himself.

Instead of having his own showroom, Greg has set up small displays at Birt’s Furniture and at Flooring Canada in Charlottetown. He visits the customer’s home to show samples and consults on the design. Once the style choice is made and the kitchen is designed, Greg creates a 3-D rendering. Customers can view their new kitchen design using virtual reality goggles so that they can see what the finished cabinets will look like. “They can walk around their kitchen before they buy their kitchen.”

The cabinets are built by a company in Moncton, NB and while Greg does not do the installation, he does provide a list of installers he has worked with.

Now Greg is offering partnership/dealership opportunities throughout the Maritimes. “The franchisee will get all the displays and setup, and we give them support on the back-end design side. They don’t have to be a designer – they just have to be a good salesperson. It is a really good opportunity for someone willing to work hard.

“We are looking for contractors who want to add cabinets to their portfolio, or for people who want to develop a cabinet business. They will be in business with us, and it will be a very secure experience.”