Stone People: Countering the Market

In much the same way, the company’s 3,000 ft² showroom – built seven years ago – is the top floor of a two-story building that features a conference room and offices on the first floor. At times, White leased out some of the office space to tenants.

“We have more space than we need, but we built this while things were really good and we could pay for it,” he says. “We felt it made sense to build big because nobody ever complains about too much space. In the future, I expect we’ll start using that office space again.”

Click to see current buildingDoug White also purchased the remaining homes sharing the block with the business, and currently rents them to tenants. Paul White explains that while his father sold him the countertop operation, the older man still owns the property.

“Today, I use him primarily as a sounding board or to run ideas by,” says the younger White. “These last five years have been a pretty serious struggle with the market.”

TOUGH DECISIONS

When White says “the market,” it’s important to realize he’s not just talking about his own small town. The majority of his work comes from Logan, a city of 50,000 people that’s a 15-minute drive to the south and also home to Utah State University.

“We also get into Idaho and into Wyoming,” he says. “We’ll travel as far as people are willing to pay us to travel.”

As with other communities across the country, the economy hasn’t been kind in recent years. The Whites, however, also take the road less traveled, such as the 2004 decision to add cabinets to the company’s offerings.

Not surprisingly, Paul White says Cache Valley built up quite an extensive network of cabinet shops through the years for selling countertops – and the new products caused some alarm.

“When we made the decision to offer cabinets as part of our line, the dealer network of cabinet shops imploded almost immediately,” he says. “We knew it would; people don’t want to buy from their competitors.

Click photo to enlarge“We still sell through some cabinet shops and have pretty good relationships with the guys who were smart enough to see we weren’t going after their work.”

These days, he says most of his work is residential; particularly with remodels, the company typically works with the homeowner. However, Cache Valley also gets a lot of new construction that comes directly from contractors.

In either situation, White says he’s learned that, “He who controls the cabinets controls the countertops.”

“The biggest advantage is that it solidifies our relationship with contractors,” he explains. “We can offer one-day service. A guy can come in and deal with one place for every cabinet and every countertop, regardless of the product.”

It’s not uncommon for Cache Valley to do an entire home in one day, with granite in the kitchen, quartz or solid surface in the bathrooms and a laminate in the laundry room.

“If we’re providing the cabinets, we can install the countertops on the same day,” White says. “I have two or three install crews, and most of my guys are also cross-trained to install cabinets. It’s awesome for a contractor who can shave a week off a production schedule, and it’s something that differentiates us.

“It’s a huge advantage for us.”