Cabinetry shop named Business of the Month
LANSDALE » The October winner of Lansdale’s Business of the Month award is one that has shaped the look of homes across the region for nearly two decades.
Village Handcrafted Cabinetry, located at 258 W. Eighth St., can give any home a personal touch, and has chosen Lansdale to be the site of expansions twice in recent years, said Councilman Jason Van Dame.
“They take great pride in not only their product, but their process as well, and that pride shows throughout the organization, from concept to completion,” Van Dame said.
The company was founded in 1999, when coowners Joe Trave III and Gary Marks began making custom entertainment centers and other hand-crafted furniture in a 400-squarefoot shop in Trave’s backyard. Over time, as the business grew, the two bought a 5,000-square-foot location in Quakertown and began making kitchen and bathroom equipment, too.
“They started to develop that business and grow in that location, and over the next couple of years grew to about 10 employees,” Van Dame said. “They realized they were growing out of their space, which was fortunate for us, because that brought them to Lansdale, in their current location.”
The company moved back to the borough in 2006 into a 27,000-squarefoot facility on West Eighth Street and continued to grow steadily until the economic recession of 2008-10, but came out on the other side of that downturn in even better shape.
“They continued to grow, not just their business but their reputation, to the current size,” Van Dame said. “Currently, they have 50 employees, and turn out as many as five full kitchens a week, and 200 to 300 projects a year.”
The company combines state-of-the-art technology with old-world craftsmanship to produce furniture and other decor designed by customers, Van Dame said.
“If you can think of it in wood, they can produce it for you,” he added.
Two years ago, the company hit the limits of its current space on West Eighth Street and was looking at locations outside Lansdale until borough staff — Trave credited Assistant Borough Manager John Ernst in particular — pointed it toward a second building and helped it through the permit process for what is now an office building and design center.
“We did look, for a while outside the borough, but they were so instrumental in us making this purchase,” Trave said. “We’re still trying to purchase more property along Eighth Street, so we plan to be here for a long time.”
Van Dame said he has worked with Village Handcrafted numerous times in his job as an independent carpentry contractor and described the steps a project takes, from the design team that develops a concept plan, to the engineering group that generates computerized, detailed drawings, then the construction team.
“They bring in all the raw material and hardware, which goes into their production facility. It comes in one end as raw lumber, and it goes through milling, fitting, assembling, sanding, finishing, detailing, and then it’s ready to go out the door, in their own trucks, to ship to the job site,” Van Dame said. “I’ve been fortunate to have the privilege to work with a lot of their products and their company over the past several years, and I can say without a doubt that they are a first-class group, and we’re lucky to have them in Lansdale.”
The two co-owners accepted the award and thanked council for the recognition, as well as borough staff for helping them set up shop in both locations. Council President Denton Burnell joked they would see another spike in business from the large crowd attending Wednesday night’s council meeting to talk about single trash haulers.
“They picked a good night to be here: you guys can all go get cabinets now,” Burnell said.
Village Handcrafted Cabinetry is located at 258 W. Eighth St. in Lansdale. For more information call 215-393-3040, visit www. VillageHandCrafted.com, or search for “Village Handcrafted Cabinetry” on Facebook.