Page 14 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Second Quarter 2021

BTJ CABINET DOOR
COMPANY
Prioritizing Family & Quality
Curtis Grindstaff explains the manufacturing process on the NCFA's tour of BTJ Cabinet Door Company’s facility.
BY AMANDA MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
When you pull up to the parking lot at BTJ Cabinet Door Company, it would be easy to miss the place if you aren’t paying close attention. Walking inside the 6,000-square-foot building that houses material, machinery, and more than 20 employees is another story. The operation is already efficient and well laid out, but old machinery is being replaced with new purchases, and significant growth in 2020 means an expansion is in the company’s future.
Curtis Grindstaff, BTJ’s owner, has been working with cabinets since he was a young boy with a strong work ethic. He believes that faith orchestrated his path and presented opportunities that led him to where he is today. Grindstaff started building cabinets with his uncle, Junior, and then moved on to cabinet installation, which resulted in spending more time on the road than Grindstaff wanted. After Grindstaff and his wife, Susan, had their third child, he got tired of traveling and
wanted to be home more with his family.
It was at this time that Grindstaff began working for a cabinet distributor and his boss happened to open a cabinet door shop. During his time as a cabinet distributor, Grindstaff built up the confidence and clients to go out on his own.
Luckily, Grindstaff’s uncle had
switched to installing affordable kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and his cabinet- door manufacturing equipment was no longer being used. Grindstaff was able to rent his uncle’s equipment per job and had purchased a large warehouse from his father within a year. Grindstaff jumped at the opportunities his family afforded him and, at the same time, made use of this unused equipment and land. Grindstaff and his wife started with two customers, making high- quality doors. Today, their daughter, Tara, is the office manager while Brett, their eldest son, works in the shop running top-quality, expensive equipment as well as being the Shop Foreman. Justin, the youngest child,
is fearless and eats, breathes, and sleeps
BTJ Cabinet Doors. He has pushed the organization into the 21st century with web design, catalogs, and IT services.
Grindstaff never pressured his children into coming to work for him, but they had ideas of their own. Working together as a
Curtis Grindstaff and his wife, Susan, were written up in their local newspaper many years ago. Curtis proudly displays the article.
family can be challenging, but Grindstaff has made it a point that when the children walk through the door, he isn’t Dad anymore. As a family, it has been agreed that he is now training the Grindstaff children to run the place once he is gone. He believes that the success of the business
12 ncforestry.org / SECOND QUARTER 2021