Closet systems wholesaler Plus Closets invested nearly $2.5 million in new machinery.

Multi-million dollar closets deals - including the public offering of The Container Store, and the acquisition of one franchise by another, were most-read reports at Closet magazine's online channel in 2013.

Venture capital firms expanded their participation in the woodworking industry, taking advantage of the consolidation that followed the downturn. The 2014 Wood Industry Almanac recaps some major transactions.

A list of the wood industry Market Leaders from 2009 to 2012.

Mike Carson, who launched Closet Works 25 years ago and was instrumental in founding two closet industry trade groups, is contemplating his next career move after Pfingsten Partners initiated the sale of half of the company last month.

Successful strategists are those that use innovative ways to engage the consumer. New apps, touchscreens, mobile showrooms help these companies stand out from the competition.

Though he never intended to be in the closets industry, Mike Carson, founder and president of Closet Works Inc., has become a pillar of it over the last 20 years. “One day at my dad’s house, in 1987, he showed me the white melamine closets he just had installed,” Carson says. “He suggested that since I liked woodworking, I should do closets. I had zero interest until he said, ‘I had one guy here for one day and paid him $1,500.’ At that moment I had an epiphany and started building closets.”