Displayrite Cabinetry, owned and operated by a father and son team with the same namesake - William Witkoski (AKA Bill Sr. and Jr.). Together, they began fabricating the high-end store fixtures nine years ago. Bill Sr. is a master residential electrician with 30 years experience who left the trade to join Bill Jr. in the cabinet and custom furniture making business in 1994. Bill Jr. is trained in the art of auto body painting but made the switch to woodworking in 1988. He has since mastered cabinetmaking as well as furniture making and architectural millwork. Their combined talents make them an excellent team.

Finding a Forte in Store Fixtures

In addition to building beautiful custom kitchens, libraries and free-standing furniture pieces like high-boys and Queen Anne-styled secretaries, Displayrite also fabricates high-end traditional-styled store fixtures for pro golf shops located on the premises of country clubs in the tri-state region. "We specialize in many things," says Bill Jr. "And we can handle most anything, but our forte is building curved and circular pieces."

He adds that the shop builds interior and exterior doors as well as interior trusses. "There is not a whole lot we won't tackle. If someone comes to us and asks us to make something, we try to make it. And most of the time we have pretty good success."

Store fixture can be used for displaying many types of merchandise, including golf apparel, books, shoes, balls and the like.

"To effectively display merchandise, we design and custom build all the fixturing to provide the shop owner or manager with many options and ways to display the merchandise," he adds. This includes hanging bars, double hanging bars and routing channels into the back of a wall cabinet display for a "waterfall arrangement" (which is a rod that can be placed in the channel and is used for displaying apparel in a cascading fashion). Wiring each piece with a comprehensive patented lighting system they developed is another amenity they offer shop owners. (See sidebar.)

The shop will work also with designers' and architects' renderings and specifications for store fixtures. Bill Jr. notes that pro golf shop fixtures are most often made from mahogany or cherry woods in the high-end country clubs. "Lesser clubs will go with oak," he says. To date, the shop has produced store fixtures for about 40 pro shops in what Bill Sr. calls the tri-state area, which includes NY, CT and MA. This commercial segment constitutes 60 percent of Displayrite's business.

Fixtures like this are usually specified in light (or natural looking colors) and dark stains, says Bill Jr. The shelves are lit with the company's patented xenon lighting system.

Store fixtures can cost anywhere from $2,500 to $35,000 depending on their size, wood species and features. The most elaborate pro shop Displayrite fabricated fixtures for spent $250,000 on store fixtures. It had ordered 50 store fixtures with one request for an 80-foot-long wall case, recalls Bill Sr.

Displayrite never needs to advertise its forte for store fixtures because new clients are referred by past clients and advertising is spread by word of mouth. "We like to take potential clients to a shop that we have already done," Bill Jr. says. "The best portfolio a shop can offer a client is one that he can see and touch. This way he can see the quality of a piece for himself."

Fabricating, Finishes and Store Future Plans

Bruce Slater, the shop's lead cabinetmaker, has been with Displayrite for 10 years. He helps Bill Jr. build furniture, casework and cabinetry. "Being that we are a small shop, we all sit down and look at the projects coming in. We delegate who will do what," Bill Jr. says. "It is definitely a team effort. Everybody does something to produce the product."

However, Bill Jr. is the only one who finishes every piece using a Kremlin sprayer for applying topcoats. Depending on the piece, finishes range from stains with a low-sheen conversion varnish for store fixtures to milk paints or painted and distressed pieces, to stains with glazing, toning or lacquer topcoats for residential applications. He uses Campbell stains and topcoats and notes that people request that either a warm, dark color or a light, natural-looking color be used. Very rarely does he get a request for a medium-toned stain to be applied.

The shop specializes in curved and circular store fixtures such as this sales counter.

In its busiest season, Displayrite has fabricated store fixtures for four pro shops at once. "That was tough," admits Bill Jr. But it was possible because of the talent in the shop and with the aid of the shop's machinery, which includes a Mini Max Formula S-1 sliding table saw, a Mini Max Formula SPI planer and joiner; a Jet JWB-37P widebelt sander; an SCMI P170 5-head moulder; a Casadei F-114 moulder; a Ritter R46H boring machine and a Bridgeport milling machine.

Together, father and son are working to promote their patented lighting system, which they say can be installed into any cabinet shelf, case, drawer or furniture piece. They are also beginning to scope out the custom closet industry, a budding market that is proving to be more than just a flash in the pan. "This will be one of our predominant focuses in the upcoming year," Bill Jr. adds. And as if that were not enough, Bill Sr. says they are looking to increase their pro shop store fixture market beyond the 300-square-mile radius that they currently service.