Preserving the future

Conestoga Valley Custom Kitchens in Narvon, Pa., is a turnkey shop that produces custom cabinetry for the residential market in the state’s southeastern region. Established in 1974, the company was restructured in the early 90’s when current owner Terry Fasnacht purchased it from the founders. A seasoned woodworker and businessman, Fasnacht helped get the business out of financial straits and find its ‘sweet spot’.

“We’ve mainly, over a 10 to 15-year period, developed good relationships with architects within the Philadelphia area through a handful of remodeling contractors and interior designers. Developing those relationships automatically grew us,” says Fasnacht.

His team of 12 to 14 employees works in a 15,000-sq.-ft. former dairy barn on three acres of land. There’s room to expand, but Fasnacht likes the scope of the current operation.

“Now I’m selective because I want to be this size. I don’t want to be bigger. So, I do turn down work because if I grow much more, I have to add to a layer of management. We have the ability to run 30 to 40 percent more work through this shop because of its size and the equipment we have, but I don't want to do that.”

Fasnacht grew up in the nearby town of Ephrata and has lived in the area his entire life. He aspired to be a furniture and cabinet maker in his formative years and sought training options through his high school curriculum. 

“Back in the 70’s they started the vo-tech schools and I spent three years doing half-days at the Brownstown program for cabinetmaking,” he says.

In 1972, Fasnacht went to work for Conestoga Wood Specialties, a producer of cabinetry components, where he refined his woodworking skills and advanced to upper management before starting his own company.

“I worked for Conestoga Wood Specialties for 19 years, and when I left, I was in the executive group running the company,” he says. “I started B&T Cabinet and Millwork. I actually startedthat in ’86, before I left Conestoga, and when I bought Conestoga Valley Custom Kitchens, I rolled that into [B&T) and shut it down. By buying this, I got into a market where the customers wanted more high-end products. We’re a middle to high-end company. By getting into that market, I was able to do more designing and just nicer projects.

“When I purchased it, we grew. I actually had less employees than they had when we got restarted, but I tripled the volume. It had been in bad shape financially.”

Fasnacht essentially had to start from scratch with getting the large business back on its feet. Right away, he hired design experts with the hopes of appealing to a new high-end clientele.

"My oldest designer was here from the beginning. He’s 80 and he still does some projects. But my other two, I purposely looked for designers that had college degrees in interior design. I wanted that because the way we retail, they understand whole projects. If we’re just doing cabinets, they can still put insight into the rest of the project, and I wanted that ability that the client felt we really understood what was going on with the whole project.”

This approach also allowed Fasnacht to offer general contracting services to customers. The jobs run the gamut of home remodeling tasks.

“About 90 percent of my cabinetry goes into remodeling, and 10 percent into new homes. But we have, I’ll call it a remodeling branch, and 20 percent of those projects we’re taking from design to completion. We’ll replace the walls, flooring, plumbing, electric... We do the whole nuts and bolts.

“That’s why I wanted people with interior design skills. My designers, if we’re doing a complete project, they’ll take them to Fergusons (a local supplier) to pick out all the plumbing fixtures. We’ll hand-hold them the whole way through the job.” 

Fasnacht says his focus has always been residential. Established relationships with architects draw in most jobs, but direct calls from homeowners are welcomed.

“We mostly serve Downington, Philadelphia, the Main Line area, and some shore homes because a lot of people we do work for in the Main Line have shore places. We do a lot of Jersey Shore houses, usually one or two a year. But if somebody just wants a vanity, we’ll do that, too.” 

A broad spectrum of design styles from traditional to contemporary are offered, along with an extensive selection of finishes, door styles, moldings, hardware and edge treatments. The company showroom displays various design lines. 

“We do a lot of Shaker. I’ll call it Shaker/European because we do some Shaker that’s not near as deep,” he says, adding that finishing trends gravitate heavily towards white paint. 

All work is by referral. Fasnacht says stellar customer service is all the advertising he needs.

“We really pay attention to our customers. If they have an issue with a kitchen, even if it’s 15, 20 years old, we’ll go out and help them with it. We have a lot of repeat customers, some we’ve done two or three homes for. 

“If it’s an older kitchen and something went wrong, I go out myself and see what’s going on. I normally don’t charge for that stuff. I’ll replace hinges and things, then next thing, we will get a call from their friends. We don’t do any advertising. We don’t do home shows anymore. Of course we have an internet presence, and we want to do a little more with social media.”

Now 68, Fasnacht is getting ready to wind down and retire. He’s developing a succession plan.He had a double lung transplant about 10 years ago and was impressed with how his staff was able to keep things going during his six-month recovery, a sure sign the business is in good hands. 

“I want to pass it down to employees who know what they’re doing because I want to see this survive. The guy I bought this from was very concerned about its future, and I’ve got the same concerns,” he says.

Fasnacht has upgraded the shop with three new SawStop table saws and makes sure the showroom is current. 

“Too often owners know they’re leaving so they don’t bother replacing equipment, and they don’t bother keeping the showrooms up. Here that’s already taken care of.  

“I know it’s time to retire. There’s no doubt in my mind. Frankly, it's strange because you get to the point where you’re making real money, you have worked your whole life and have all the knowledge, then it’s time to retire. How do you preserve that? The truth is my goal is to be around so hopefully I can help them get through some tough times, if they hit them.”

Learn more at cvck.com.

Originally published in the January 2025 issue of Woodshop News.