A truly great kitchen and bath design is a perfect blend of beauty and functionality. It takes in-depth knowledge of all possibilities, materials, and configurations – extreme attention to detail – and the ability to communicate and demonstrate the vision to the customer.
— Jeff Hoebelheinrich, Co-owner,
Kitchen Design Gallery
Kitchen Design Gallery – Better By Design
The dynamics of our business
Kitchen Design Gallery founder John Hasty has remodeled kitchens in Jacksonville, Florida, for almost 30 years. Hasty and his sister started Canac Kitchens in 1996.
Working primarily in new construction for builders, Canac grew to a 10 million-per-year enterprise before folding in the wake of the 2008 recession. Hasty reemerged as Kitchen Design Gallery in 2010, operating in retail and new construction with fewer personnel.
The type of prospects KDG serves has changed throughout the years, from commercial builds comprising their business to currently splitting the work 70% retail and 30% new home builds.
Purchased by Jeff and Mallory Hoebelheinrich in 2024, KDG leadership draws from the methodology John Hasty built over twenty-seven years – and has sustained their success, grossing $5 million in 2024.
The center of stellar service
We’re a little family here and we need to make sure we have a cohesiveness, so we want to make (hiring) more of a group decision, than just bringing somebody in and introducing them to people, like; ‘here’s the new hire, hope it works out.’
— Mallory Hoebelheinrich, Co-owner,
Kitchen Design Gallery
One of the requirements Jeff and Mallory had for acquiring a business was that it had a solid team and procedures in place.
Kitchen Design Gallery has an outstanding team of seasoned designers, which set the firm apart from the other businesses the couple considered.
Purchasing a firm with an experienced team encouraged Mallory and Jeff to allow the team to do what it does best – freeing them up to improve the business from other angles.
Mallory focuses her talents on marketing and advertising – Jeff handles finance and vendor management. They are jointly hands-on in customer and partner escalations.
The roots of stellar service
Let them (prospects and clients) tell you what they’re thinking. That’s how I learned why I’m here. The customer has figured it out for themselves, or they’re doing it in the showroom, and we are finding out what we can do for them.
— John Hasty, Founder,
Kitchen Design Gallery
Every six weeks or so, vendor representatives are brought in to educate the KDG team on their products.
Kitchen Design Gallery approaches each job with two factors in mind:
- What the customer wants done.
- What needs to be done to give the customer what they want.
Business is run transparently so the entire team knows the company’s financial performance. Jeff and Mallory conduct weekly meetings with the entire team so that everybody knows what goals are being met, where they are faltering, and the status of projects on the horizon.
New hires are brought on by senior designers, and operations are conducted in a family-like atmosphere.
A discovery process
John Hasty calls consulting; “a discovery process where I figure out why I’m here.”
One of the nuances that make kitchen and bath design a challenging and deeply rewarding effort is the collaboration between the designer and the homeowner.
The activity that involves consultation, designing, retaining, ordering, and installing — often called the process — is a significant discovery experience for both parties.
Hasty said homeowners come into their showroom with a picture of a $200,000 kitchen they saw in a magazine, saying, “This is what I want.”
When a designer goes out to the prospect’s house and sees that it’s a $150,000 ranch and the kind of kitchen the owner wants is not possible in their home, the conversation shifts to the designer learning from the homeowner what they’re excited about doing with the space available.
Winning client satisfaction
We will go out of our way to value engineer the best cabinetry for the dollar.
— Jeff Hoebelheinrich
The KDG team operates with the mentality, “Say what you do and do what you say!”
It’s all about making the homeowner feel great about the possible decisions with the space they want to remodel.
Some homeowners look for the best-performing cabinetry in their remodel. Others seek what Jeff calls engineered value into the existing space – translating to the homeowner as cost-effective cabinets they’re ecstatic over in their new kitchen.
Kitchen Design Gallery uses the Good-Better-Best methodology for sales to engineer value for their prospects. Their brand-name price points are:
- Good – Northpoint – rebranded as KDG Select, RTA cabinetry
- Better – Kith Cabinetry
- Best – Dura Supreme
KDG typically communicates with each client at least once weekly to update them on their project’s progress. Communication is even more intimate as installation day approaches.
Niching down: Differentiating from our competitors
It’s extremely important to get everything ordered and right the first go around so you’re not fixing mistakes at the end and having a customer’s kitchen torn apart for an additional six weeks as we have to go back and re-order.
— Nick Anderson, Operations Manager
Independent kitchen and bath remodeling is a richly niche market, so there’s a challenge facing firms seeking to differentiate themselves from the competition. Exactitude is a Kitchen Design Gallery strength. KDG doesn’t deviate from what other independent remodeling firms do – they strive to deliver their service better than their competitors.
While ROI is robust for major kitchen remodels at 38%, and mid-range remodels even stronger at 49.5%, such investments cost homeowners months of time and anxiety before they pay off.
Kitchen Design Gallery differentiates its service by navigating through the industry truism – It’s not if but when something will go wrong – aiming for exactness the first time through.
They have decades of employing “an extra layer of checks and balances” throughout the process, which became embedded in their service over the years.
Kitchen Design Gallery maintains excellent relationships with the contractors they’ve partnered with for years – in some cases decades – and their experienced designers know the ins and outs of their cabinetry lines that allow them to create unique and beautiful designs.
The install team has an effective method of making the process as smooth as possible for the client. Backed by a 4.9 Google Business rating, KDG ensures that client experiences are insulated by seeing their investment materialize in their homes under the guidance of experts.
Remodeling is an exciting, complex experience with a monumental reward for homeowners. KDG aims to deliver that reward in every job they do, and they have the testimonials to back up their claim of being precise the first time around.
Local challenges for the job
Everyone has to be on the same page and working together for a design to come to life.
— Jeff Hoebelheinrich
Creative solutions
Nick Anderson said there have been several challenging installations over the years.
Historical homes often feature uneven floors and sloping or warped ceilings, creating the challenge of making the finished design look as sharp as it does in the model.
During an installation on the set of a local news station, the install team had to be careful not to make noise while the anchors were on the air. The team was concerned that the air compressor might turn on and interrupt the broadcast. The biggest challenge on that installation was to intentionally angle glass door cabinetry so that the set lighting did not reflect off its glass into the cameras.
With a little help from my friends
John Hasty was at a pivotal moment in his design firm when he attended SEN’s four-day business school in Charlotte in 2017.
The best four days I’ve ever spent for my business in 30 or 35 years was sitting down with Dan Luck, John Lang, and Ken Peterson. I was about ready to sell my business. I’m at my wit’s end, but my three industry peers helped me turn my business around and make a profit, leading to a huge success for me and transferring out to the new owners, Jeff and Mallory.
I learned more in those four days sitting in the group with peers than I did in my whole career.
I was ready to give up in business, and then I learned so much in that school from Ken Peterson.
I thought too many times if it wasn’t for what I learned in that school, I probably would have shut this business down and quit a long time ago, but what I learned there … was just amazing. It changed my whole outlook on the way I did business.
I recommend (SEN University) to anybody.
There’s no question that owner leadership, business education, and an experienced team of sales designers and installers have benefited Kitchen Design Gallery’s service to their clients. Check out KDG’s online gallery to see the great work they’re doing.
—SEN Design Group
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