Working with long-time subcontracted installation crews, A. Lee Parron installs cabinets on jobs reaching from Manhattan to the Caribbean and South America -- mostly from referrals. He gets paid in full before the cabinets, averaging $40,000 for product and installation, ship. The client pays for crew lodging and airfare.
There's also enough work locally for about 60 kitchens a year, plus bath and other business. It's a business Parron began buying from his father, Al, on installment in 1996. His uncle and another owner operated the business back to 1965 .Parron, 34, a past president of his NKBA chapter, started at his father's reception desk at 17. He now closes 75% of qualified leads. Although sales were lower this past year, Parron's systems, an ad campaign in a Florida design magazine, and leads from contractors and architects, should put him on firm footing. He opened a European Living store inside a Kitchen Center showroom in Fort Lauderdale, which should mean more cabinet business.
His systems help him ride out the feast or famine of his market. And meanwhile, there's always business in the Bahamas.