Stairwaysfor the stars

IEALERS who sell columns, srair

Lf parts, mantels and other specialty millwork items typically have a stack of catalogs so customers can custom order fancier, more personalized decor. But what about the customer who wants to get extra fancy and extra personal?

For those extra-special requests, retailen can establish a good relationship with a local, smaller millwork shop that specializes in high-end custom work. "With millwork, there are so many manufacturers, but it's mass produced, the styles are limited, and it's not upscale," explains Terry Wilcox, Architectural Matters. Northridge, Ca., which caters to homes of the rich and famous.

Niche companies like Architectural Matters are small enough to be able to take the time to produce something, in fact everything, special. "We're strictly custom," he says. "We design, build and install staircases, doors, mantelpieces, balusters, handrails, columns. They're designed precisely to fit a particular situation,

Story at a Glance

How to work with a custom manufacturer to offer elegant specialty millwork so we could never pre-ma\e them."

Special orderi take -about two weeks.

"For wood columns, I use redwood for the exterior and poplar for the interior. I hand-make them, turning the cap and base simultaneously with the shaft. They're absolute beauties, the finest you can get," Wilcox says.

Unfortunately, many small millwork shops cannot provide the dealer with the primary tool he requires to sell their custom products: a nice catalog. Sometimes shops lack literature because of the cost to produce an attractive, full-color catalog. If they do have a catalog, it may be oriented for architects instead of retailers or their customers.

Plus, producing custom products means producing countless types, designs, price poins and sizes. "It's been difficult to railor my offerings for a catalog," says Wilcox. "I just have too many choices."