SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2018
Karl Stapleton was the kind of kid who brought a few spare boards, nails and a hammer to a game of pond hockey for that inevitable moment when an over-zealous friend back in Marystown, Newfoundland broke their makeshift net with his best Keith Brown slap shot. “I built a few cabins back in the woods of Marystown when I was a kid, too,” Karl told me through a laugh as we chatted before I began our interview. From hockey nets and clubhouses, I learned, came Karl’s signature: cabinets. Karl and his wife Charmaine Donnelly-Stapleton own and operate Quest Kitchens in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, a small community of 3,034 located on the boundary of Hants County and the Halifax Regional Municipality.
By Spotlight on Business K arl, you couldn’t be more centrally-located to do business. You operate out of Nova Scotia’s busiest, most populated corridor. What’s the range of Quest itchens? Well, we’ve installed our custom kitchens as far as St. John’s, Newfoundland and in Mactaquac, New Brunswick – and, of course, across most of Nova Scotia. Well, I was aware of Quest Kitchens’ solid reputation here in Halifax before the magazine reached out to you, Karl. One thing that’s abundantly clear to me after just my pre- liminary research is the fact that your family is a major motivator for you – and I get that. Can you please tell the readers just how Charmaine, Mccabe, Theo, and Thomas have made Quest Kitchens what it is today? David, my family is my whole world. When my feet hit the floor out of bed every morning, my first thought is them. I’m moving to provide for them and I’ve always operated with the notion that to fail is unacceptable. They’re my driving force and when I’m taking that extra time to find solutions for customers – and I have a story about that – they’re at the back of my mind cheering me on. That’s why I’ll never dismiss a concern; I’ll make sure that every project honours its timelines and is completed to a standard that reflects my best. This effort is at the heart of our lifetime warranty guarantee. I don’t take shortcuts and I don’t think there’s a place for that in building and installation. My drive means you’re only going to see me the one time; you won’t be calling Quest back to a job. “We’ve installed our custom kitchens as far as St. John’s, Newfoundland and in Mactaquac, New Brunswick – and, of course, across most of Nova Scotia.” I’m very thorough in my approach. Where it’s needed, I source new information, but generally speaking, I’m always educating myself to improve my craft – Charmaine can attest to that! She’s stood by me past midnight many a time supporting my efforts to fix a piece of machinery or to solve an issue with some mixing agent. And now she has come aboard with our business full-fledged. Our partnership has really motivated us and it’s built-up an even stronger spirit to stay on top of things and be even more proactive. It’s clear that communication has gotten even stronger – and every project feels like it’s our own. Our approach really reflects our core values as a family. When did you get your business up and running, Karl, and what were the early days like compared to now?
Looking back to how and why Quest began, I really know I made all the right decisions. I was working in your typical workplace with disgruntled coworkers and I came to the conclusion that there has to be more to the work I enjoy doing. You could say that when I quit that job, there was a bit of ‘flight or fight’ instinct going on; I was driven, you could also say. Charmaine had saved $1200 through tutoring, which allowed us to scour The Bargain Hunter and newspaper ads for second-hand tools. That’s really how the business was born. At first, I installed kitchens for other companies. I remember hauling tools in bins up three flights of stairs to our apartment on Windmill Road in Dart- mouth on many a late night. Once we saved enough funds, the venture that is Quest Kitchens officially began when I rented my own commercial spot – my own cabinet shop. To say that I was generous with my time and effort in the early days would be an understatement, but to say that I minded a minute of it would be wrong. We eventually found ourselves in a position to buy a homestead in Elmsdale from the 1940s formerly owned by a local furniture-making family, the Gilby’s, who had really made a name for them-
selves there.
“I’m always educating myself to improve my craft.” As for the name Quest Kitchens, I have my close friend John to thank for that – he’s really the author on that one. John was a renowned restaurant owner in the 1980s. He later moved on to flipping properties and had a celebrat- ed career as a successful landlord to well-kept buildings in the Halifax area. He hired me for a kitchen reconstruction job in the early 2000s, and that’s how our friendship began. When our first born, Mccabe, came along, John became an important role model. We really had a special kinship and he really became a part of our family. John unfortunately lost his battle with cancer a year ago, it’s a deep loss we feel in our hearts and he is missed every day. As John and I had many conversations about life’s circles. He was always sharing progressive advice on every topic with me. As a family, we decided to dedicate our homestead in honour of
“There are no middle-people when you’re dealing with us. The personal attributes and full-concentrated commitment is a great recipe for trust in this business. People want to be in the know every step of the way and we provide that.”
Can you tell the readers a little more about the “we” in Quest Kitchens? Well, as for my team, it’s myself, two other guys in my cabinet shop, and Charmaine on the paper side of things. There’s nothing at Quest Kitchens that’s subcontracted out. When someone calls or emails, it’s only myself or Charmaine they deal with. There are no middle-people when you’re dealing with us. The personal attributes and full-concentrated commitment is a great recipe for trust in this business. People want to be in the know every step of the way and we provide that. “Our standards are such that everything that’s going into your kitchen is there with great design and longevity in mind. Our suppliers are also a big part of the “we,” I’d say. I’ve built great relationships with local and regional suppliers over the years. I’m a guy who takes pride in loyalty and when it comes to suppliers, reputation and standing in the community beats pricing any day of the week. I do business with suppliers who follow through with their word and who prize top quality and great time lines of delivery – those are some of the merits that establish long-lasting business rela- tionships. We consider what’s reputable at every level at Quest. We deal with Future Doors, Mill Supply, Richelieu, McFaddens, and Robert Bury, to name a few. You’ve got to be thinking about expanding your team with the buzz around your brand these days – right, Karl? When we go through the hiring process and we line-up criteria, here’s what we’re thinking: Can you read a mea- suring tape? Do you have a positive attitude and a list of references that doesn’t make you hesitate when I ask you if I can call on them? Do you have safety-certified work boots and transportation? Do you fit the family-run business feel? As for actual cabinetry experience, it’s usually a good thing that you don’t have much. I prefer people to have a fresh start so that I can show them how I like to have things done. An overlap of habits can be counterproductive. Speaking of buzz, social media has taken sharing ideas about kitchen design to a whole new level. How has this changed the way you do business? It’s directly tied to the main message I leave every poten- tial new customer with after a quote. Charmaine and I and the guys on the ground are here to make sure that your kitchen is designed, built, and installed to your specifica- tions. We don’t consider anything in terms of non-stan- dard requests. The reality is that kitchens are becoming more intricate with venues like Pinterest and Houzz. Even if your kitchen is unique, it’s still yours, and that’s what we care about.
John as a reminder of the person he was to us. That’s really touching, Karl. It sounds like John guided you through a lot in your lives. Including the hills and moun- tains, it all sounds like a journey you’d happily do again without a detour, Karl. There’s no question, David. I’m proud to say that I was born and raised in Marystown, Newfoundland. I am where I am today because, ultimately, my early years consisted of hobbies and daydreams making those homemade hockey nets and backwoods cabins. I’ve always been a passionate builder because I think it runs deep. My parents always rep- resented a solid work ethic in my life growing up. They both committed many years to the local fish plant – and I even worked there when I was in high school. When I graduated high school, I earned a carpentry diploma and then went a step further by getting a second diploma in furniture-making. When the job prospects for furniture making and carpentry weren’t looking good in Newfound- land, I actually went out to Alberta with less than $300 in my pocket. Well, as a testament to hard work, I moved up the ranks out West and I was eventually running my own crew on an oil rig. This opened a lot of doors for me, one of which was getting connected with Claire Johnson, who ran a cabinetry shop. Claire was really my mentor; I learned a lot of life lessons while learning the meticulous craft of cabinet making. And what brought you back to the East Coast, Karl? Well, the next chapter, as it were, was definitely a lot of mixed emotions. I initially came back, I returned to the East Coast for the funeral of my best friend, which landed me in Halifax. It was a sad time to say the least. While I was back in Nova Scotia for an extended time, I found another tremendous mentor in Bill Griffin. Bill’s genius in the field of Millwork had really helped me take my custom kitchen journey to the next level. Well Karl that brings me to my next question: when people hear the word ‘custom,’ they think expense. How do you manage to keep your prices as competitive as they are? In some cases, people can sometimes assume that their renovation or project is the biggest job in Atlantic Canada and I get that – I think we all do. Even though people are dealing with spaces that might be bigger than the average kitchen, I want them to understand that we don’t treat two kitchens the same but, more importantly, that we don’t use fillers. Our standards are such that everything that’s going into your kitchen is there with great design and longevity in mind. We don’t use MDF or plywood, for example. Our doors and dovetail drawers are solid wood. All our mate- rials and finishes are the best on the market. When we complete an install, we walk away with the full confidence that there are no issues with the build because we don’t take shortcuts.
Quest Kitchens
questkitchens2@gmail.com
www.questkitchens.com
as spotlighted in the OCTOBER 2018 issue of SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
www.spotlightonbusinessmagazine.com
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