Countryside Cabinets is a semi-custom cabinet manufacturer based in De Pere, Wisconsin that has spent the last 50 years becoming a steadfast presence in the building community across the Midwest. The company excels in simplifying the design, functionality, and customization of cabinetry of the highest quality for every price point. Now part of the WF Cabinetry Brands family, Countryside Cabinets remains one of the most enduring cabinet manufacturers in the region.
From its 140,000-square-foot facility, the team at Countryside Cabinets gives customers the opportunity to customize their choices based on wood type, finish, and accessories, all of which will set any project apart. And, with a new catalogue on the way as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations—complete with its new Slim Shaker doors and the ever popular Quartersawn White Oak offering—the company looks to bring its offerings into new markets, ensuring that there is something for every room, style, and budget.
Rooted in family
Over its long history, Countryside Cabinets has made great effort to simplify the design and manufacturing process while strengthening its own internal culture. From its catalogue to its pricing structure and the level of service it provides, these efforts have been a major point of differentiation in the market.
“We’ve eliminated complex pricing structures in our catalogue and essentially put all our offerings into one single cabinet line,” says Marketing and Product Manager Anna Harteau of Countryside’s a la carte offering. “Designers don’t have to jump catalogues or cabinet lines to upgrade the product; we offer all architectural styles at each price point so customers can make decisions based on their preference instead of their budget.”
With the motto “Custom made simple,” Countryside Cabinets seeks to be the go-to source for cabinets on the basis of quality, aesthetic, function, and simplicity, taking the guess work out of cabinetry and becoming a true partner in the process. This approach can be attributed to the company’s founding. Countryside Cabinets was established as a family business in 1975 and grew throughout the years, doing so on a firm foundation of family values and open lines of communication entrenched in the company culture.
When the company was sold in 2020, that same commitment to its values carried forth—all that changed was a renewed sense of energy and the adoption of a growth mindset that would position the company to grow in the Midwest and beyond.
Currently, its sights are set on the Northeast, as Harteau explains. “We have outside sales teams in each region that do a great job of being our eyes and ears in the field,” she says. “We are still able to deliver the majority of our product on our own trucks,” though future growth could necessitate the use of third-party logistics.
Customer-led growth
Much of Countryside Cabinets’ growth has come about organically in response to demand, and customer feedback has informed the expansion of its catalogue as well as how the company operates.
As Harteau notes, “We really listen to what our dealers and designers are asking for, not only in the fashion aspect of our cabinetry line but in the function and quality as well. Our catalogue was built on dealer requests. Because we can do these custom requests, we’ll take what people have been asking for repeatedly and bring it into our line as standard.”
In the 1990s, the business invested in acquiring machinery to produce stock cabinetry to support the burgeoning multi-unit construction market, though it maintained the ability to manufacture simple modifications, which served it well as the market evolved. In the 2000s, there was growth in the single family home market and the demand for customization grew—and so too did Countryside Cabinets. From 30 employees to 300, and 75 pages to 500 pages in the catalogue, the company has come a long way over the last half century, but it remains committed to the values and the relationships it has built along the way.
Customer feedback has not only impacted the breadth of the company’s offerings; it has also led Countryside Cabinets to become a certified partner in sustainability. Recognizing that many of its processes were already “green,” a customer inquiry took it to the next level. “15 years ago, we had a builder reach out asking if we had an environmental certification that was required for a project of his and at the time we didn’t, but when we started looking into it, we realized that a lot of our practices were already aligned with that,” Harteau shares. “We were already purchasing hardwood materials locally whenever possible. We recycled. We eliminated process wastes as much as we could. Our sawdust is actually collected and used as animal bedding at local farms and any extra product that we have, we donate to Habitat for Humanity.”
For 12 years now, Countryside Cabinets has been certified under the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP), which has guided its sustainability practices and continuous improvement efforts.
“As our manufacturing plant has grown and as our processes have needed to change, it played a really large part in us switching to water-based stains and paints. I think we’re a leader on that point. It’s very difficult to work with water-based and it took a lot of work internally, but we’ve been running that since 2014 and it’s been great for the environment and also for our employees’ health,” Harteau explains.
Collaborative success
At Countryside Cabinets, quality and safety go hand in hand, and these elements are embodied in the culture of the company. A healthy work-life balance is encouraged and as the company has grown, so has its commitment to open lines of communication. Feedback loops with customers and employees alike are a key part of Countryside’s continuous improvement strategy.
With standard quarterly meetings of the representative safety committee and continuous improvement team, everyone has a stake and their efforts are appreciated. “Our production moved shifts to four 10-hour days and that really helps with work-life balance—if we do have overtime requirements, our employees are still keeping their weekends,” says Harteau of the effort to ensure that work-life balance is a priority even when the going gets tough.
She also notes that there is a large Hispanic population in the region, many of whom are employed by Countryside Cabinets, so efforts have been made to create bilingual resources to ensure that everyone can communicate effectively and operate as a collective in the interest of quality and safety.
The company also hosts monthly birthday lunches which give employees an opportunity to meet with the president, director of operations, human resources, and their team supervisors, creating an additional line of communication between employees and decision makers. Harteau refers to it as, “an hour of face time where you can share an update on the company and tell people what’s going on and they get to give feedback on their own experiences and day-to-day life in the shop.” These insights, she says, are invaluable to the company’s leadership.
This year, given the company’s milestone 50th anniversary, there is even greater cause to celebrate. Countryside Cabinets has hosted company picnics (one for each shift to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate) and other fun events to reflect on the long tenure of the company as well as its bright future.
To 50 more
The success of Countryside Cabinets is unmistakably connected to its culture, including its commitment to continuous improvement and its ability to consider and internalize feedback from its customers and employees. This is why its relationships, like the cabinets it designs and manufactures, are built to last.
For Harteau, the goal is clear: “We want to produce a product driven by quality and focused on value. We want to continue to exceed industry standards for semi-custom cabinetry and maintain relationships with the same family values that got us here.”
This principled approach will continue to serve Countryside Cabinets well as it looks to new markets across the U.S. Backed by a long tenured history and solid reputation, its semi-custom cabinet solutions will satisfy design and function requirements at every price point and its service delivery is sure to impress.
