Starting a new venture

Burke Architectural Millwork, a full-service millwork firm established in Livonia, Mich., in 2016, is starting a new chapter with the opening of Bespoke Closets and Organized Spaces. Owners Kelly Victor-Burke and Barry Burke, a husband-and-wife team, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new luxury custom closet showroom in June. The couple decided to expand during the pandemic, just after Kelly launched a national apprenticeship program for the woodworking industry.

“Since we started the company, we have been primarily working in hospitality, bars, restaurants, and education, but then when Covid hit and we were closed for six weeks, the first thing we did was pivot into doing custom Plexiglass. It kept us busy, kept the lights on. And then it was the passage of the apprenticeship that got the attention of the industry, and I was invited to speak at the industry functions, which is where we started to mingle with the closet people,” says Kelly.

“We met a couple doing residential millwork that, in their seventh year of doing business, started doing closets and they talked about how successful it has been for their company, keeping them busy and bringing in revenue that would allow them to give their employees raises and profit sharing. As soon as we heard that, we were like, ‘that’s what we need to do.’”

Burke Architectural Millwork has nine employees, but it started with Barry looking for a fresh start after 10 years with another shop and Kelly considering retirement from a 30-year career as a geography professor at Eastern Michigan University. After finding space and hiring two employees, they promoted their bar and restaurant work to the local design community.

“We knew the key to our success would be working with designers, and we knew if we could get designers and architects to see what we do, they would be the ones getting us work, and that’s exactly what we did,” says Kelly.

The company’s backlog grew quickly, and it became apparent to the Burkes that they would need more skilled help if they wanted the momentum to continue. In 2017, Kelly began an arduous quest to find employees through an apprenticeship program where they could be paid to learn at their facility.

When she realized there wasn’t any specific or suitable apprenticeship program to train new full-time employees with qualifications such as CAD drafting, CNC operation, cabinetmaking and estimating, she set about creating her own. Over the next three years, she worked with business owners, educational partners, and industry organizations to draft the initial framework. By 2020, she had set up the nation’s first Woodwork Manufacturing Specialist Apprentice program, which can be adopted in any state.

“If we don’t get serious about passing down the skills, then we’re going to have a problem. So as an educator, I wondered what it would be like if we could start our own company, where we, as part of our mission, would be responsible for actively helping to recruit and help educate people about the skilled trade of woodworking.”

The first graduate, Logan Leinbach, completed the program in 2022 and is now a full-time CNC specialist at Burke.

Once she and Barry decided to move forward on the closet division, Kelly took a business class that taught her how to evaluate an opportunity. She did a complete business plan focused on the niche luxury market and products available from high-end European brands. And there has been an analysis of the best practices.

“The fact is, closet [manufacturers] have their own standards and their own way of doing things,” says. Kelly. “We can’t just start throwing these closets together. We must learn how it’s done before we can make it our own.”

The new showroom – also called the design studio and Casa di Burke – presents several rooms for clients to experience storage and organization solutions.

“If you really want to set yourself as a luxury organized spaces company, your design studio has to be luxury, because people who come in for a closet, you want to show them that you can do so much more,” says Kelly.

Interior designer Jenny O’Connor was hired in the fall of 2002 to work directly with clients on perfecting personalization of their spaces and to assist with locating accessories such as appliances, safes, and humidors, as well as incorporating lighting and carpeting in their spaces. The Burkes are also collaborating with local vendors and craftspeople.

“Our metalsmith is launching a new residential stainless steel outdoor cabinetry line. We encouraged him to be featured here in our design studio because we believe that we want to lift everyone up,” adds Kelly.

The closet market has been growing for years and it’s a crowded field, but the Burkes are confident that their focus on luxury will pay off.

“The fact is you can get storage items and closets from big box stores, traditional home goods (suppliers) and online companies. You can go to the closet companies that advertise in the weekly penny saver; you can go to California Closets. We have competition at every level, but I think we’re unique in what our offering is.

“We’re excited. Everyone that has gone through the showroom, including all our vendors, our collaborative partners, is completely floored. They say they’ve never seen anything like it, so they’re very excited about it too.”

For more, visit burkemillwork.com. 

This article was originally published in the October 2023 issue.