Custom craftsman

Cabinet work adds special touch

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, February 26, 2007

Custom manufactured products are fine, but nothing compares to the special touch provided by a craftsman who works by hand. That’s the opinion of Mike Klawitter who himself worked many years as a carpenter and for the past four years has worked as project manager and design consultant for Woessners Cabinet Corner.

Klawitter, who oversees sales of cabinets, countertops, and other wood products, said that custom manufactured (machine-made) features and hand-crafted custom shop products can in fact complement one another.

“We sell both here at Woessners Cabinet,” Klawitter said, “including Dura Supreme custom manufactured products. Finishes on custom-manufactured (Dura Supreme) products are superior.”

If a customer has a custom manufactured kitchen set with cabinets, and wants to add an entertainment center in a nearby room that matches what’s in the kitchen, craftsmen can make a perfect match — much cheaper than going the custom manufactured route.

“That’s because you don’t need to recalibrate and reset a machine,” Klawitter said. “Not only can this be a money saver, but there’s a time savings as well. And if something isn’t near perfect, our craftsmen can rectify wood products in quick order.”

Woessners Cabinet Corner is in its ninth year of operations, and is part of Woessner Construction located near Burger King and Casey’s on the east side of Fergus Falls, at 626 East Hampden. The business formerly was known as Orlyn Peterson Company.

Klawitter, before joining Woessner Construction 14 years ago and prior to joining the cabinet division four years ago, worked as a carpenter in his hometown of Hutchinson and also in the Twin Cities.

“My background in carpentry allows me to not only design something but also to know how it goes together,” he said. “And with our 3-D computer system, I can take a customer on a virtual walk-through and see how their cabinets, countertops, entertainment centers and other household features will look like.”

While acknowledging the superior finishing on custom (machine-made) manufactured products like what Dura Supreme makes, Klawitter said some things you just have to do by hand.

“With bigger jobs you can’t do certain modifications that only craftsmen can do,” he said, “such as completing different angles and crafting other desires of individual homeowners.”

Hand-crafted work oftentimes is the only way to meet a customer’s need when he or she mentions, “This is the way I want it done.”

To that end, Klawitter relies on his two craftsmen who work at Woessners Cabinet Corner — Ron Soliah and Brad Sundberg. He has two installers, Jason Wiczek and Jerry Nistler. Office manager is Rachel Anderson.

“We all work together well, while meeting customer needs,” Klawitter said.

With more and more baby boomers moving to the lakes area of Otter Tail County, Woessners Cabinet Corner has expanded an office to Ottertail City.

They work hard to live up to their motto, “Selling the Best and Building the Best.”

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