When high end cabinet and millwork jobs for the home market sank with the economy, the owners of a just-opened local cabinet shop had two choices - sink with the economy or find a different way to stay afloat.
Husband-and-wife management team Stewart and Deanna Junge have stayed afloat by redefining their company, Landmark Finish, based in Dundee Park in Andover. The Boxford couple added commercial businesses to their client list and now there is no looking back. Business is good, they say.
After a three-year search that stretched from their previous location in Winchester to Newburyport, the couple bought a vacant space in Dundee Park in 2007. But the "telltale signs in the economy" loomed, Deanna Junge said.
By their first anniversary in the building, the economic downturn began and the decision to appeal to a wider audience was made.
"Our research showed that despite the economic downturn, the commercial and municipal sectors were still spending money," Deanna said. "It was like starting the business all over again. We had to learn a new industry, how to bid for work in that industry and how to carry out the work once the projects were won."
One of their first secured jobs was the Town Hall in Sturbridge, Mass. The couple is managing the building's historic makeover.
Stewart Junge said adding new component to the company's portfolio has been very enjoyable, in addition to being a good business decision.
"We quickly learned how to work with new materials such as high pressure laminate and solid surface to meet the commercial construction requirements," he said.
The couple's business has also breathed more life into a building that they said was vacant for more than a decade. Formerly the Smith and Dove Mills, it was built around the turn of the century and was used as a tannery, Stewart Junge said.
"Although the building needs works, it is well suited for a manufacturing facility," Stewart Junge said. "Although there are some challenges to working on (the building's) three levels from a material handling standpoint, it's nice to be able to keep within the original manufacturing intent of the building."
Its 16,000 square feet is three times the space the Junges previously rented, so there's room to expand.
And there's plenty of room to continue business for the residential high-enders. Landmark Finish offers a 5-percent discount to Andover residents.
"12 Dundee Park Drive in Andover may have been vacant for more than a decade but there is clearly a lot happening at the address now," Stewart Junge said.
