Leeman Architectural Woodwork

Gary Leeman left California for Georgia to start a custom home building company, but as luck would have it he found his calling in architectural woodworking and custom millwork. As a result, his company known as Leeman Construction Company became Leeman Architectural Woodwork (LAW) to avoid confusion in a marketplace saturated with general contractors.

“I just wanted my contracting partners to know I wasn’t a competitor,” laughs Gary Leeman, president and CEO of LAW. LAW is still a company full of surprises, and maintains general contracting licenses in over a dozen states. While LAW hasn’t any plans to get back into the custom home building market, the licenses help give the company a competitive edge when clients need truly full-service attention. The company is based out of headquarters and fabrication shop in Powder Springs, Ga., but will travel from coast to coast to install or modify products for each client.

Leeman has managed to amass a wide client base over the years, which precipitated the need for the team to relocate from a 1,500-square foot fabrication facility to the 350,000-square foot facility it operates today, allowing plenty of room for fulfillment and warehousing for clients. The LAW team works with a complete range of materials from wood, laminates, particleboard, MDF, Plexiglas and melamine to produce custom millwork, cabinetry and point-of-purchase displays for commercial retail and institutional clients nationwide.

Location is not the only obstacle team maneuvers with ease; no project is ever too large or too small for LAW, and Leeman has always stressed the importance of pushing to deliver a quality product. It’s the reason why LAW utilizes its professionals for design and engineering services, and why the company insists on keeping installation services in-house through a subsidiary company called Leeman Installation Inc., which also handles contract installations.

“We install what we fabricate, from break rooms to boardrooms, hair salons, churches, courthouses and everything in between because we take pride in our work,” says Leeman.

Wherever Needed

With LAW’s top-of-the-line facilities and technologies, the only time Leeman calls for outside help is when a client needs a product with metal components. In these cases, LAW reaches out to a reliable network of longtime partners who are just as willing to go the extra mile for LAW as LAW’s in-house team, and the LAW team is happy to return the favor. “We found out pretty quickly in this business that you will feed off of one another,” expands Leeman. “If one of our partners picks up a job and needs a quote on plastic laminate, we jump to get it to them.”

The extra support has helped the company establish itself as a reliable fabricator for large commercial clients, including Ingersoll Rand, Kwikset, Stanley Black & Decker and Smart Furniture. LAW also fabricated and installed special display units for the Booth Western Art Museum and Tellus Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Cartersville, Ga.  Leeman has also become a regular and reliable subcontractor for the fabrication of custom millwork for projects ranging from hospitals and schools to courthouses.

But LAW’s growth on a national scale can be traced back to its work for longtime customer Home Depot, which Leeman admits is one of the major reasons LAW maintains licensing in so many states. “We have been working consistently with Home Depot for over 18 years,” he says. “In the early days we had to be licensed in every state they needed us in.”

LAW has fabricated and installed everything from service desks to point-of-purchase displays and racking systems for Home Depot, along with cabinetry for the company’s behind-the-scenes break rooms and administrative spaces. In light of the economy, though, LAW has been busy focusing on smaller-scale projects for the home improvement suppliers providing new display mounts and some updated point-of-purchase displays, particularly for the lock department.

Together for Today and Tomorrow

LAW recently also found a valuable client in Cox Communications, the third-largest cable television provider in the U.S. boasting over 6.2 million customers. “We go coast-to-coast for Cox Communications, fabricating and installing point-of-purchase displays and fixtures in their retail and service locations,” he says.

There have been growing pains, but Leeman has kept a very level head throughout the company’s expansion. “We may have different mothers and fathers, but we’re a family,” admits Leeman. “Today you will see many of the same faces around the office that you would have seen almost 25 years ago, and throughout this time they have seen the best and worst of times together, which definitely helped to create a family-like environment.”

Even though the past few years may have been quieter than usual for the ambitious team at LAW, Leeman has already seen an increase in the amount of quotes being requested for upcoming projects. The willingness to go the extra mile to support each client in any endeavor will ensure the Leeman Architectural Woodwork team a brighter future.