EP #67 - Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops: Three Generations of Quality Manufacturing

Peter Laufer shares the 40-year history of Metropolitan Cabinets and Countertops, a third-generation family business with multiple showrooms across greater Boston. As manufacturers rather than dealers, they control quality, pricing, and timelines directly while working closely with contractors, architects, designers, and homeowners.

• Founded over 40 years ago by Stuart and Mike Elfland when they saw an opportunity after another cabinet company closed
• Specializes in manufacturing custom cabinets and countertops rather than reselling other products
• Maintains five showrooms throughout greater Boston, including a North Shore location in Wakefield
• Serves residential kitchens, apartment renovations, and multifamily construction projects
• Recognized as one of the 100 most charitable companies in Massachusetts
• Donates cabinets to Habitat for Humanity and supports various nonprofit causes
• Features a team of designers and project managers to ensure smooth project execution

To learn more, visit metcabinet.com, check out their popular Instagram page, or visit one of their showrooms Monday through Friday, where walk-ins are welcome.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, YvonneGodfrey.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have the distinctpleasure of introducing Peter
Laufer.
He is a third generation ownerof the Metropolitan Cabinets in
Countertop.
Peter, how are you today?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
I'm doing well, Yuan.
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
It's a pleasure to have you.
We are pleased to learn moreabout your family's company.
Can you please tell ourlisteners about it?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yes, metropolitan Cabinets and Countertops is over
40 years old.
We're third generation, familyowned.
We have a large factory locatedin Norwood and then five
showrooms in greater Boston, oneof which is actually in the
North Shore, right in Wakefield.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Beautiful.
How did the company get intothis business?

Speaker 3 (00:56):
So it was actually started by my father-in-law,
stuart Elfland, and his father,mike Elfland, over 40 years ago.
Mike worked for another companythat actually closed and he and
Stuart realized that there wasa huge opening for a lot of the
previous customers who neededcabinetry, so the two of them
actually decided to startMetropolitan Cabinets and
Countertops.
Since then it's grown,obviously into multiple

(01:19):
locations and we're now a fullcabinet and countertop
manufacturer.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Beautiful, beautiful, are you only in the New England
area?

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yes, so one of the specialties that we do is we are
responsible for meeting withthe clients, measuring each
kitchen.
So one of the things about thatis you have to be local to the
different areas that you're in.
So we really focus on the NewEngland market and it's worked
out very well for us.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Beautiful.
So what are some myths ormisconception that you've
discovered in this field?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Well, I think a lot of people.
If you look at the cabinetindustry the majority of it,
majority of the cabinet industrypeople are dealers, meaning
they're buying someone else'sproduct and reselling it to you,
whereas we're actually amanufacturer, so we're making
the product and selling itdirectly to the end user.
Now we work very closely withcontractors.

(02:15):
We are a to-the-trade company,but we are making our product as
opposed to buying it andreselling it.
So we work very closely withcontractors, architects,
designers, as well as thehomeowner to ensure that the
project goes very well.
We do a lot of residentialkitchens, we have a division
that does apartments for tenantturnover, and then we do
multifamily new construction aswell as handling countertop

(02:37):
fabrication for all of thesedivisions.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Beautiful, beautiful and outside of work.
What does the company do ingeneral within the community?

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Well, metropolitan Cabinet, for several years
running, has been one of the 100most charitable companies in
the state of Massachusetts,which we're extremely proud of.
We donate many cabinets toHabitat for Humanity and we're
involved in numerous nonprofitcauses that better help our
community flourish.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Beautiful.
Can you please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about MetropolitanCabinets and Countertops?

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, the big thing about us is that we are a
manufacturer, so we're cuttingout the middle person of buying
and reselling the products, sowe're able to control pricing,
quality, sourcing, timelinesseverything that really can go
wrong.
We've cut a lot of that out bybeing the manufacturer, which

(03:35):
makes the contractors happy, thehomeowners happy, architects,
designers makes the job just gomuch more smoothly.
We also have an unbelievablestaff of talented designers,
project managers, to make surethat everything goes smoothly
from start to finish.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Wonderful.
So how can our listeners learnmore about Metropolitan Cabinets
and Countertop Peter?

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, our website is metcabinetcom.
Our Instagram page is extremelypopular, where we post a lot of
our completed projects, and ourshowrooms are open Monday
through Friday and we do welcomewalk-ins, so you're able to
peruse, talk to a designer andfigure out if we're the right
company for you.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Awesome, Peter.
We really appreciate you beingon the show with us today.
We thank you so much for theinformation and the feedback,
and we wish MetropolitanCabinets and Countertops all the
very best moving forward.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
I really appreciate you having us and again, we're
located right in Wakefield so wecould service all of the North
Shore.
So we look forward to seeingyou.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPNorthshorecom.
That's GNPNorthshorecom, orcall 857-703-9406.