Cabinet Demand Reached $14 Billion in 2015

Cabinet Channel Revenues Balanced Between Remodeling and New Construction

Cabinet demand in the United States reached $14 billion in 2015. During the economic downturn, remodeling dominated cabinet demand and enabled many dealers to maintain a reasonable and stable revenue base. In 2015 however, new construction was on a continued upswing and accounted for just under 50% of cabinet demand with remodeling holding just a slight edge.

Kitchens Still Dominant

Kitchens accounted for over 75% of cabinet demand in 2015 exceeding $10 billion in dealer sales. In new construction, kitchens have become the primary living space as the area has become larger and incorporates entertainment and dining areas and generally is the center of homeowner activity beyond just meal time. In addition to the larger space, today’s kitchens have a higher percentage of center islands, also contributing to increased demand for storage.

In remodeling, according to the real estate website, Trulia, “The rooms that buyers most closely inspect (and judge) in a house are the kitchen and master bath. These are the interior spaces where the most value can be added during a sale, so they need to look their best.”  http://www.trulia.com/blog/2-most-important-rooms-in-a-house/ 

Consequently, cabinet demand has been growing based on increases in new construction overall, larger kitchen areas and the added pickup from remodeling in resale homes. Homeowners in regions with older homes  are taking note of this trend and are expanding existing kitchen area to keep pace with lifestyle trends.

Bathrooms contributed an additional $3 billion in revenue and should not be overlooked for upselling opportunities. There are nearly as many bathroom projects as kitchens but they tend to be smaller in scale with roughly $800 per project spent on bathroom cabinets versus just over $1600 per project for kitchen cabinets.