Who care's about kitchen
cabinet manufacturers?

WE DO!
613-493-5858 or info@ckca.ca

CKCA's Virtual AGM is now complete.

Welcome CKCA Board of Directors 2020/2021

Message from the CKCA President,
Heidi Boudreault, Denca
Want to improve your shop?

Get more than 200
two-second lean ideas from

Check out their YouTube channel here !

Nice logo Laurysen Kitchens!
Laurysen Kitchens is a CKCA Certified Member and the quality assurance logo was placed on the back of their new trailer. Do you brand your vehicles? If you've got it - flaunt it!

Want to assure your customers your product performs to the industry accepted standard? Check out CKCA's cer tification program .

P.S. Happy 50 years to Laurysen kitchens too!
CKCA Surveyed - Industry sales up, down or steady?
We asked readers last week (May 26 e-news) if sales were up, down or steady. Here's what you told us.

Sales down - 68%
Sales steady - 11%
Sales increased - 7%
Welcome new CKCA Members!
Mississauga, ON
Earlton, ON
Events - Lots going on
Thanks for attending!

CKCA National Roundtable Discussion #2 - May 28

Economic update and impact on kitchen cabinet industry
Mike Slobodian, CKCA Presdient (2018-2020) gave an update on CKCA noting we grew another 54 members in 2019!

2020 is a challenging year for CKCA and we're looking at ways we can help the industry and stay connected.

We heard from Ted Mallett, Vice-President and Chief Economist, CFIB.

Tough economic news - good news and bad news.

Ted thinks there are opportunities out there, but it's tough and not getting better quickly. Canada is still a sought after marketplace for immigration which can drive real estate prices, so 3-4 years down the road immigration could become a major driver again.

We'll have a full re-cap on this presentation and slides available shortly.

Watch for more CKCA National Discussions and other events for you to talk to the industry coming your way soon!
Plant tours - Virtually there?

Taurus Craco Machinery Inc. President and CKCA Board Member, Wes Love says his business is doing more on line than ever before and even when we get through Covid-19, expect to see a stronger online presence from his company. Read full article here.

Kyle Roseneck, Territory Manager for Western Ontario did a "virtual plant tour" recently of Absolute Cabinets located in Barrie, Ontario.

We know face to face is still the best, but sometimes you just can't spare the time.
Can CKCA do a virtual tour of your shop?
Yes
No
Please email us with your contact info so we can discuss the virtual tour with you.
More online events and even better - more
co-hosting!

Grass Canada is working with their friends at Willis and ONbord.
June 4th @ 12pm PST / 3pm EST

When will you go to a trade show again?

Very interesting article here from the events industry on what's trending internationally. Many people weary to attend an event of any scale, especially without a vaccine. Factors to consider include safety in travel (air quality filtration on planes), health screening at airports (extra time to get from A to B), hotel cleanliness (pillows, surfaces touched by hundreds before you), use of public washrooms on the trade show floor. Sure we took the risks before, but Covid-19 was smack in your face reminder. Canada virtually shut down it's economy and in 3 months we still have seen over 92,000 Canadians infected and over 7,000 deaths. Worldwide the numbers are over 6 million infections and over 350,000 deaths.

Associations including CKCA, unfortunately will not host in-person events until safety issues resolved, the timing of which is unknown. We'll keep doing virtual for now.
Trends and News
Are you seeing new kitchen designs influenced by Covid-19?


Click here to give us your opinion.

What kitchen design changes do you think we'll see in our industry as a result of Covid-19? We know it's early days, but tell us what you're thinking so far...and check out what trends we're seeing below.

Richelieu offers antibacterial decorative panels and decorative hardware.

Check out the details here.
According to this article in Architectural Digest magazine article, we can anticipate design influenced by Covid-19. We already know people are cooking more, will functionality again rise to the top of the wish list? Will we need larger fridge/freezers, more storage, 2 sinks, bigger kitchens? Will more people grow their own food (gardening and seed sales in Canada quadrupled in April/May) due to food security concerns and people being at home.


Will we see more kitchen designs with greenery incorporated such as this story from Casa Flores Cabinetry (published January/20)
Office centricity is over. Digital by default.
What's going on?
Shopify CEO, Tobi Lutke says he's a "CEO by day, Dad in the evening, Hacker by night". Having closed his Shopify offices until 2021, wonder what his kitchen is like at home? Will he be one of many at home workers who renovates?

How will people adapt to this new normal of working from home?

What features are in a "work from home" kitchen anyway?

Bet you have some ideas already.
Marathon Hardware announces new drawer system product
Legacy Endura and Legacy Prima drawer systems. Press release here.
Business opportunity?
We did a story on HomeEXCEPT in our May 26 news-blast and asked readers if they thought there was business opportunity with selling non intrusive home monitoring for seniors choosing to age in their homes.

We didn't get a big response, but 90% of those who responded agreed it was a business opportunity. With diversification and pivot on business owners minds and tough economic times ongoing, this may be an area of future growth even for kitchen cabinet manufacturers and dealers. If you're designing a kitchen for an aging couple, offering peace of mind solutions may be part of your offerings.
HDI announces DesignOneSource
Get details on the new Specificiation Division of HDI.
Press release here .
Your customer's convenience

According to Conference Board of Canada, consumers won't be looking to give up the convenience of e-commerce any time soon once the pandemic is over. So if you're thinking about investing in virtual showroom technology or other on-line interactions with your clients, it will be time and money well spent.
Read full article here.
Housing prices predicted to drop 9-18% in 2020

CMHC release housing report predicting 9-18% pricing drop over next year.
See article here.
And now for some humour...
Don't be a potato head!

Are you struggling with Zoom, GoToWebinar, Microsoft Teams? All these tools are used to host virtual meetings and they certainly don't come without technical issues. We're all still learning. Even the biggest budget events have trouble. Take comfort that you're not alone. But have a read of this very funny story, a reminder that we're all human at the end of the day. Full story here.

If you're new to Zoom and want to practice, give us a call! CKCA is happy to practice with you! 613-493-5858
ARE YOU DOING ENOUGH TO PROMOTE YOUR CANADIAN PRODUCT?

As you build or tweak your on-line presence remember to wave the Canadian flag.

Now more than ever consumers want to know where their product comes from.

CKCA developed a pamphlet you can use for this or you can create your own using our handy list of "why buy Canadian". Email us today for details or give us a call at 613-493-5858 .
CKCA is the voice of the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Industry
Our Vision
The Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) will inspire progress and innovation in the Canadian kitchen manufacturing industry, by promoting excellence, facilitating continuous improvement and working to ensure high standards for design and manufacturing are upheld by members. We will also build strong relationships and enduring trust between CKCA members and the consumers, builders and industry partners whose support ensures the
success of our members.