Machines, Determination Make Ventura Cabinetmaker's Business Grow

Jan. 24--Despite a real estate slump that has triggered a few layoffs, a Ventura cabinetmaker continues to carve out a niche in the home-building industry. W.L. Rubottom Co. executives have seen troublesome times in the past, but the company has survived. The reality is they have had to let go about 15 people in the past month.

"We're directly related to whatever's happening in the nation and California housing," said President Gary McCoy. "If the interest rate goes up, or housing prices go down, we're affected."

The company has seen its fair share of glory days, with profits surging as the real estate market flourished with record sales and appreciation.

"Construction was hot for probably 10 years," McCoy said. "That's when we expressed our greatest growth."

The boom allowed the company to buy millions of dollars worth of computerized machinery. The most recent major purchase was a Skipper 100, a $250,000 machine that does in 40 seconds what four or five men can do in several minutes -- and it's more accurate.

"It's not cheap," McCoy said. "The cabinet business is very capital intensive."

The company mass produces bathroom, kitchen and closet cabinets for the construction industry, not for individual homeowners. It boasts about 30 door styles and 20 finishes, using beech, red oak and maple wood.

The family-owned company was started by Wilbur Rubottom in the garage of his El Monte home in 1946. He was backed with a $100 loan, and he made most of his own equipment.

"I don't think a person could start from scratch today and do what we do and survive the business. It's taken a lifetime to get here," said Chairman Larry Rubottom, Wilbur's son, whose first job was sweeping the floor at age 15. "I remember when we used to push everything through a table saw."

As the cabinetmaking industry dynamically changed over time, the business morphed with it.

The real issue is that there's so much competition, cabinet manufacturers undercut each other, says Dale Silverman, executive vice president of the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers.

Still, Silverman has noticed a growing number of cabinetmakers attending the trade association's annual conferences. Although she doesn't describe the industry as thriving, Silverman recognizes that new technology appears to make it easier for small shops to remain in business.

Today, a $50,000 machine has the capability of making a product similar to what a $1 million machine does, but perhaps not as quickly.

"Now they have accessibility to what was once affordable to only the bigger cabinetmakers," Silverman said.

Rob Gustafson, chief executive officer of the Woodwork Institute in west Sacramento, said he believes the number of cabinetmakers is declining overall and larger businesses are more likely to prevail.

The nonprofit organization, which offers quality control and certification for the woodwork industry, has some 260 member firms that are commercial cabinetry makers. About 80 percent of the members are from California, while the others do business in the state.

In the old days, a cabinet shop didn't peddle its products more than 200 miles from home.

"It just didn't make sense to trek their product that far," Gustafson said. "Over the past 10 to 15 years, borders have disappeared. Everyone needs as much work as they can get."

W.L. Rubottom has broadened its market by about 150 miles, venturing to San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles counties.

Since relocating to Ventura in 1958, the company has expanded several times. It employs about 80 people at its 30,000-square-foot factory on Ventura Avenue, but the total can climb as high as 105 during the busiest times.

The plant bustles with a constant, rhythmic flow of organized activity, with drills buzzing and machines roaring through sawdust-filled air. Workers, who earn an average of $13.50 an hour, must practically yell to be heard over the din.

They attack their respective tasks, punching instructions into computers that operate large equipment, connecting pieces to make frames, pushing wood through sanding machines, spraying finishes on wood and assembling cabinets.

At the end, the finished product is a large cabinet section ready for installation.

The company generates about $8 million to $10 million in annual sales, and completes 40 to 50 kitchens a week, Rubottom said.

Business has slowed considerably in the past month, evidenced by plenty of empty workbenches. This is typical during cold winter months, company executives say, because people traditionally don't buy homes around Christmas.

In addition, contractors are slowing or halting developments because of thinning market demand.

In many cases, contractors are building homes but not installing cabinets and appliances until after they have buyers lined up, McCoy said.

With a stable interest rate and buyers still on the market, McCoy expects the market to turn around by summer.

"It's just a matter of the builders having confidence to go forward," McCoy said. "And they do not want to do that until they know they can sell their houses."

By waiting, contractors are playing it safe by giving potential home buyers the flexibility to choose a color or finish for their cabinets.

"The modern homeowner is very discriminating, as you can tell from the types of appliances they have," Rubottom said. "They're paying all this money for houses, so the cabinets and appliances have to match their expectations."

It requires more sophisticated finishes and cabinetry, he said, to meet both the upscale and low-end market. While the company produces top-notch cabinets for multimillion-dollar homes, it also makes cabinets for apartments and condominiums.

"It gives us a good leg up on some of our competitors that go one direction or the other," Rubottom said.

It's not competitors' products that are worrisome, it's the prices offered by out-of-state companies.

"We have to adhere very strictly to Southern California's environmental laws, and some of the out-of-state people don't," McCoy said. "So they produce a cabinet with a different type of finish, that's not water-based, that's easier to apply."

The region's air pollution regulations have gotten so tight, it has driven several companies out of business, Silverman said.

On top of that, McCoy pointed out that materials and labor are cheaper outside California.

"To stay competitive, you can't rest on what you've done in the past," Rubottom said. "You've got to just continually develop new products -- new door styles, new finishes."

ON THE NET: wlrubottom.com

-----

To see more of the Ventura County Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.venturacountystar.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Ventura County Star, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.