By Deborah Wilbrink
Mayfield, Kentucky–Kendor Wood, Inc. transforms North American hardwoods into cabinet doors with optional wainscoting and beaded panels, arches, and angles – whatever it takes to match design desires.
Co-founder Danny Upton said, “We work with the cabinet maker or the homebuilder or individual to get them what they want. Every day I see something new we are working on for a customer. We want to help them to create the kitchen they want, even if it’s a design we never do again, even if it’s a rare request like Butternut wood! That particular job may not be profitable, but we’re quite proud of our added value for loyal customers.”
The main species for Kendor Wood customers are Hard and Soft Maple, Alder, Birch, Cherry, Poplar, Mahogany, Sapele and Western Cedar. Red and White Oak are stocked in the normal plain sawn, as well as quartersawn and rift cut. Western Cedar, Mahogany, Sapele, Teak, and the hard-to-source Red Grandis Eucalyptus are in stock; once a customer requests a wood, Kendor Wood keeps it on hand. The list also includes the softwoods, such as Knotty Pine, Clear Pine, and Cypress, which are bought in smaller quantities. In total, over 600,000 board feet of lumber (No. 1 Common, FAS, Select) in 15/16 thickness arrives at Kendor Wood.
Co-owner Jeff Holt purchases directly from sawmills for the bulk of the lumber and small amounts from lumber distributors. Hardwoods from the northern region, particularly Michigan, are a favorite because of the more uniform color. Demand is strong for Soft Maple.
The door makers easily discern trends. Along with the traditional square window panes, customers are requesting curved, angled, or X-patterned mullions. “That’s one of the million little things we do for our customers and have done over the years,” said Upton. “We’re also seeing an increase in orders for beading.”
Bead board on a solid panel runs along with the grain. Bead may be on the door frame, too. The company manufactures some specialty items, like arched panels and angled pieces for a stove valence or stairway. Kitchen island panels may have wide center bars to which corbels and decorative carvings may be applied.
“We can make so many different requests,” said Upton, “due in part to our new CNC equipment. We put the tooling on our SCM Accord 25FX CNC Routechs to cut the panel and outside profiles. They make the door perfectly square and perfectly on size every time. We also have a new DMC sander with five internal working stations. It does a fantastic job and has eliminated a lot of hand sanding. When the installer puts the door on, it is already shaped to size with the detail and sanded. The new tools have significantly upgraded our product and the time it takes to make it has been slashed.”
Kendor Wood has long been a user of diamond cutters. “That was a big advance to the industry,” recalled Upton. “It was hard to get a carbide or steel cutter to match up with rail and cope. Diamonds got it down to where we can be very precise in the cuts and maintain it over a period of time.” Kendor Wood has created many knives over the years for special orders. With all these cutting heads in stock, the company can combine different pieces and make a totally new appearance on a door.
A new electronic packing system sends each shipment on its way to destinations as far away as Hawaii or the Cayman Islands. One customer buys doors for resale on Amazon. With every door a different size, the company has found a way to ensure safe arrival of bundled product to customers. Lasers check the dimensions of each bundle. The system then produces a box and protective material just the right size. “With this system,” said Upton, “we feel comfortable being able to ship our doors anywhere.”
Danny Upton began working for his father, Dan Upton Sr., in Upton’s Cabinet Shop almost 45 years ago. A few years later he bought into the business. “Our cabinets were basically boxes with plywood doors,” he says, “but in the late 1970s cabinets became kitchen furniture.” Suppliers for the new style of five-piece doors were on the East and West coasts, needing a six-week delivery lead. Upton Cabinets ventured out, buying equipment to produce the doors in demand. Danny’s uncle, Virgil Upton, left his California shop to join the business, adding his production knowledge of the five-piece door to Upton’s Cabinets.
Those men have passed on, but Danny Upton knows the story. “One day, Dad and Virgil put some doors in a truck and visited other cabinet shops. They picked up business from every shop where they stopped. Suddenly we were in the door business, too, and the door business overrode the cabinets. It was hard to make both and keep everybody happy, so we sold off the cabinet portion to some employees. In 1982, we focused exclusively on doors. Uncle Virgil came up with the name Kentucky Door and it was shortened to Ken-Door. Today, we are Kendor Wood, Incorporated.”
Kendor Wood is very much a family business. Danny and Juanita Upton’s four sons have all worked there while in college. Dan Upton III, “LD,” is a CAD designer and engineer for the company, and Ash Upton keeps the IT and general maintenance running smoothly. Jeff Holt married Danny’s sister, Cheryl, and joined the company after college. “I became part of the family here,” said Holt. “I enjoy the hands-on, day-to-day work. You feel good about the product and proud of what you’ve done. We’re making the best doors we’ve ever made.”
Cheryl Holt, LaDonna Parks, and Juanita Upton are the faces of customer service at Kendor Wood. Customer service focuses on the flexibility and ability to meet the customer’s needs through comprehensive product knowledge. The ladies not only take orders, but give sound advice, helping the customer understand what will work and what won’t. Ultimately, the customer gets what he or she wants.
The family makes company decisions together, including the direction for the future. With three buildings for manufacturing, storage and lumber on 13 acres, there is still room to expand. Careful, managed growth is the plan. “We don’t want to promise a faster delivery date than we can fulfill, for example,” said Upton. “We want to take care of our customers’ needs so we can make customers happy.” More information is available at www.kendorwood.com
