Cherrytree Kitchens & Baths

Since 1976 Cherrytree Kitchens & Baths has grown into a full-service residential kitchen and bath remodeling company. Headquartered in Bradford, Illinois, Cherrytree is well-known for its specialty as one of the largest cabinet refacing companies in the Midwest.

Founded in 1976, Cherrytree began as a small cabinet refacing company that consisted of one man working out of his garage. As the company grew, Cherrytree started using custom solid quarter-inch Amish hardwood instead of veneer, allowing a high-quality finish that allowed a 25-year warranty while still priced at an average of 50 percent less than the cost of new. Taking on a product high in quality and low in cost proved to be a smart move for the Cherrytree as the company has continued to grow ever since.

Ben Endress, current owner of Cherrytree, started working for the company while still in high school. Once out of school Endress continued to work for Cherrytree and eventually purchased the company. Over the next 15 to 20 years, the company would grow exponentially in revenue as well as personnel.

Due to the quality craftsmanship that the company provided, Cherrytree established a solid clientele who eventually started requesting other services from the company. “We started with cabinet refacing and countertops and as the years went by clients started asking us to expand into new cabinetry,countertops,granite/solid surface countertops, back wall tile and many other services,” says Kevin Klumpp, sales and marketing manager for Cherrytree. “We’ve essentially now grown into a full kitchen and bath remodeling company.”

Building a solid reputation

Relying mainly on word-of-mouth promotion as well asan up-to-date company website and brochure, Cherrytree has gone the route of minimal advertising. “The biggest thing that we do as far as advertising goes, is we attend a fair amount of local area home shows,” Klumpp explains. “Those have always been really good for us, but other than that we rely mostly on word-of-mouth and our reputation.”

The company has developed a niche within its market as Cherrytree self-performs all its services. “We have all our own installers that do everything in-house from start to finish so we’re basically our own general contractor,” says Klumpp. “We try not to use any subcontractors so our project completion time frames are much shorter than our competitors, which are very important to our clients.”

Self-performing a majority of its work also allows Cherrytree the ability to work within a broad range of projects. “We do the small $5,000 jobs for clients who just want cabinetry work done as well as the big $150,000 full custom jobs,” says Klumpp.

A custom approach

With a unique supply partnership with Amish craftsmen, Cherrytree has the ability to customize any job including customized refaced kitchens. Using its own 3-D rendering and design program, Cherrytree is currently working on a “gentleman’s bar” which is located in the basement of the clients home. “We actually designed it from the ground up,” says Klumpp. “I put the design into the 3-D program so my client can have a visual of it and then we bring it to life. It has the paneled walls with lanterns just like in the old days. We’re also adding on an additional wine tasting room as well as a wine cellar with an old barrel-vault ceiling. So our ability to customize everything we do really creates a niche market for us.”

Klumpp says that working for Cherrytree gives him a great sense of pride. With roughly 10 full-time employees, the company has maintained a very high retention rate. “I believe that our employees  truly have a passion for what they do,” says Klumpp. Relying on mostly word-of-mouth advertising, Cherrytree remains cognizant to go above and beyond for every client. “Our company has earned a reputation of bending over backward for our clients and I feel like everyone in the company really works together very well to provide the best product and service for our clientele. It really shows through the amount of referrals we get and our client’s attitude toward us.  Our clients know that we are passionate about service and making sure they are satisfied with their project.”

Building further upon the solid reputation that Cherrytree has established, Klumpp predicts a 3 to 5 percent annual growth for the company in the coming years. Currently Cherrytree completes on average, more than 200 projects per year. With no need to deviate, the company will continue on its current path. “We plan to utilize our reputation and continue doing what we do best,” says Klumpp. “We have become a very stable company.”

As the company stays the course, Cherrytree Kitchen & Baths will continue to build upon its client base while maintaining the ethics that have made the company successful.