A family custom - the Wood-Mode story.

In the early years of World War II, when products such as steel were consigned to the war effort, four salesmen who had worked for a company that manufactured the standard white metal kitchen cabinets popular through the 1930s (Whitehead Monel Kitchens Co.) found themselves with nothing to sell. But what Ted Gronlund, Dick Nellis, Charles Wall and Caswell Holloway had was a mutual belief in their collective knowledge of the industry and their ability to create and sell "new and better" kitchen cabinetry.

Their business, Wood-Metal Industries Inc., began in a small lumber-planing mill in Kreamer, Pennsylvania, and depended, initially, on military contracts for such products as cook's tables, carrier chicken coops, shell cases, ladders and signal corps equipment. Once the war in Europe and the South Pacific ended, Wood-Metal turned to the production of cabinets.

Initially, the four founders had other business interests and so agreed that each would devote only a few hours a week to their operations. As the business burgeoned, they recognized the need for a knowledgeable, full-time manager. In 1944 C. K. Battram St., a former colleague at Whitehead Monel, became the company's general manager. As Holloway left in 1948 to pursue other business interests, Nellis relocated to Kreamer, and Gronlund and Wall also started to devote greater time to the company. As an example of Wood-Metal's growth, by 1945 it was producing enameled finishes on a contemporary door style and introduced special-purpose units such as a telescoping towel rack, cutlery trays with linoleum bottoms, and a broom/linen closet. In the late '40s, the company also was designing and manufacturing cabinets and casework for schools, hospitals and other commercial installations.

The '50s were a time of optimism, industrial growth and a housing boom. According to the company's 1992 50th Anniversary brochure, it was during this period that Wood-Metal's formula for its future success was set. "It would be a family business, a place where sons and nephews, cousins and friends all banded together to build the finest cabinetry possible ... (with) opportunity for everybody. And it remains pretty much the same today. Members of the Wall, the Gronlund and the Battram families continue to manage Wood-Mode."

Wood-Metal had become something of a household name through its women's magazine advertising campaign, launched in 1954. However, that success also had created an identity problem because Wood-Metal's residential installations were all wood cabinets. Hence, in 1956, the name was changed to "Wood-Mode Kitchens," which, according to a company bulletin, "connotes wood kitchens of superior styling ... there is practically no loss of brand identification."

Another name change occurred in the 1970s. Since Wood-Mode custom cabinets were being used outside the kitchen in other rooms of the house thanks largely to its RoomScaping promotions, its logo evolved from "Wood-Mode Kitchens" to "Wood-Mode Cabinetry." An industry magazine named it one of the two largest U.S. custom cabinetry manufacturers that year.

The '80s were a decade of even more aggressive growth for the company; sales leaped from $30 million in 1980 to $75 million in 1988, along with extensive plant expansion, new product changes, and innovations. It was also a decade of stability with the continuum of founding-family leadership: Robert Gronlund, president; Ken Battram, Jr., executive vice president; and Ted Gronlund and Charlie Wall III, directors.

By the close of the '80s and the leveling off of new housing, real estate and contracting demand for high-end home furnishings and building materials, the company's growth rate slowed. Wood-Mode found the glass half-full rather than half-empty, however, and brought its expertise to the expanding mid-range market by introducing its made-to-order, semi-custom Brookhaven series. Sales of the new brand rose to $26 million within three years.

Capitalizing on this shifting market demand has kept Wood-Mode on top of its category; the company, originally made popular through its custom cabinetry, reports that semi-custom cabinetry now accounts for 56 percent of its sales. With $96 million in 1994 sales, it is the nation's leading non-stock cabinetry manufacturer.