Abrupt closure of Tacoma cabinet maker comes as surprise to workers and area customers
The end of a Tacoma-based kitchen cabinet/countertop manufacturer and sales operation left both workers and customers surprised and stunned by the sudden closure.
Employees with Founders Choice Cabinets + Countertops received notice March 7 that the business was shutting down immediately.
No formal public announcement has been made, other than a private Facebook page where former employees have gathered.
The company’s main site — a manufacturing facility — is at 6002 E. McKinley Ave., Tacoma. Other locations included showrooms in Tumwater and Fircrest area. For a time it also had a showroom on South Tacoma Way. The company employed more than 70 workers.
Founders Choice Inc., dates to January 2006, according to business license information on file with the City of Tacoma.
The company’s McKinley Avenue site grew with the addition of a storage warehouse in 2021, according to county property records.
Kristin Jones, accounts receivable manager and assistant office manager for Founders Choice, confirmed the shutdown with The News Tribune this week.
David Sizemore, president and CEO of the company, did not respond to News Tribune requests for comment. Calls to the number attached to the company’s LLC went directly to an automated answering system.
Jones directed customers with questions to email customersupport@founderschoice.com.
The company’s Facebook page has been taken down, and its website is no longer accessible to the public.
Annika Hargreaves of Tacoma told The News Tribune this week that she had been working with a Founders Choice designer on a home project “up until March 6.”
She wrote, “We were exchanging e-mails and I was waiting for a price quote when she fell silent. I reached out the next week via e-mail and received a reply from their operations administrator that Founder’s Choice was no longer in business as of Thursday March 7.”
Hargreaves said she was “recommended to use this company a few years ago by a designer who mentioned the cabinets are made in Tacoma and are very well made.”
She added that the closing came as a surprise, “based on having just attended an event at their showroom on February 24.”
Hargreaves moved on after learning of the closure.
“We are working on sourcing a new cabinet maker. It feels like taking a few steps backward as we were ready to order,” she wrote.
Hargreaves was not alone in her surprise over the closure.
Former employees told The News Tribune the only reason they had heard for the closure was that the owner wanted to retire and that “he was done.”
Michelle Bieda, accounting and office manager for Woodinville-based Lungren Homes, told The News Tribune via email in response to questions, “We had a great relationship with Founders Choice and are sorry they are closing shop.”
She added that the company ”has agreed to complete all orders in process, which shows the continued commitment to their customers.”
Not everyone was as assured.
An Olympia-area general contractor reached by The News Tribune on Thursday said he was pondering legal steps over a still-uncompleted order.
