Closet companies and custom woodworkers who let design lead marketing will be the most successful. That theme recurred during Cabinets & Closets 2015, which included 22 conference sessions, a plant tour and two-day expo, April 14-16 in Schaumburg, IL. By adding value and moving beyond commodities — through the help of advanced design applications, automated manufacturing, or the robust array of advanced hardware and outsourced wood products — cabinet and closets businesses can set them selves apart.

Conference registration tripled over last year’s edition, as business owners signed up to learn best practices or hear case studies of successful companies. Broad overviews of consumer preferences and trends in home interior remodeling drew standing room only crowds to some sessions. For both cabinet and closet markets, the key to profitability is to move beyond the low-priced sales pitch, and to move up the pricing scale with unique designs to inspire and excite customers to open their wallets. Automation to help streamline production also is part of the process.

Attendees moved freely between the Closets Sessions, the Business of Design, and the Custom Cabinets track. Crowds swelled in particular for sessions led by Patrick Borg, owner of Neff of Chicago, a high-end custom design boutique, and Skip LaBella, one of the most respected closets business operators in the country, who did a one-hour presentation on the thinking behind his operating approach as president of Closet America.

People also packed in to hear the story of another closet and cabinet star — Jeff Bruzzesi of Closet Factory — who related the marketing efforts in building a house for a local annual Homearama show. The unusual home is centered on organizational possibilities, with somewhere between 14 to 20 pantries, mudrooms, built-in sideboards, studies, and of course, numerous closets. Houzz.com’s Lindsey Thudin also drew a roomful, both during her Design-track session on optimizing your presence at Houzz and her keynote on April 15, the opening day of Closets Expo.

The all-day conferences segued seamlessly into the Cabinets & Closets Expo 2015, which featured vertical panel saws, operating CNC machines, edgebanders, and design application software — perhaps a third of the show was centered on technology; and two-thirds on designs in panel, hardware, and wood component outsourcing.

Cabinets & Closets 2016 will be held March 22-24 in Pasadena, CA.