In a move of industry solidarity, the National Closet Group has decided to become a specialized “affinity group” under the auspices of the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals.

NCG was formed in January 2000 in Coconut Grove, FL, when 13 independent closet companies met together under the direction of Mike Carson, owner of Closet Works in Elmhurst, IL. From that first conference NCG gathered momentum, and by the 2005 conference in Washington, DC, it totaled 55 members, all premier closet companies with exclusive, non-competing territories.

When Closets Magazine asked NCG to provide speakers for its first CLOSETS Conference and Expo in Dallas, TX, in 2005, the seeds were sown for an industry-wide trade association.

Before the year was out, the NCG Board decided that an all-inclusive association was needed to promote the entire closet industry. The Association of Closet and Storage Professionals was created to represent independents, franchises, dealerships, suppliers and vendors and anyone else associated with closets and storage. As ACSP developed its programs (led by five former NCG Board members and four others from the industry), NCG regrouped as an exclusive buying group which continued to share confidential information among themselves.

Last December, the NCG membership voted to unite with ACSP in a show of unity for the industry. ACSP past president, Diana Augspurger (ACSP Board member, past President, and NCG member – Creative Storage, Buffalo, NY) will act as Board liaison, and David Linda from Spaceman (Houston, TX) will lead the NCG steering committee. At the end of the conference, as David walked out of the conference center with ACSP President Jeff Klein, also President of Closet Specialist, Savannah, GA, he was overheard saying, “It’s nice to have the Band back together again.” Klein replied, “Amen, brother!”

SOURCE: Assn. of Closet and Storage Professionals