By: Deborah Johnson Wood
In 2004, when Charles Reid and his partners Brian Rudesill and Ned O'Brien bought the struggling furniture maker at 4660 136th Avenue, sales were at $5 million and flagging. Three short years later, Charter House Innovations expects to put $20 million on the books.
Named as one of the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch, CHi will be honored tonight at an awards banquet at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in East Lansing.
The company doesn't just design, manufacture, distribute, and install custom furniture for the world's largest quick-serve restaurants—they also design the restaurant interiors.
"We're a design company that happens to manufacture," said Charles Reid, president and managing partner. "We're not pigeon holed; we're a design company, an innovative company. We have 13 designers who happen to design interiors of restaurants, but they're trained to do all interiors."
CHi recently introduced 12 new pieces of furniture for their restaurant division, and they're moving into the college and university food service arena with their restaurant seating and interior design offerings.
And they're not stopping there. The hospitality industry is on their list of markets for broadening their product lines, and the company has broken ground on its first boutique hotel that will showcase their design prowess.
Since 2004, CHi has added 40 employees and expects to add more to produce its planned hospitality line.
Read about CHi's hotel in next week's Development News.
Source: Charles Reid, Charter House Innovations
www.gotochi.com
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth. She can be reached at [email protected].
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