Celebrating 25 years of trading this February is Yanchep Cabinets – a business whose local foundations are as solid as its cabinetry, even though the name might have you thinking otherwise!
Bindoon-born and bred, Jason Glover began his apprenticeship at the age of sixteen, working for Gingin Cabinets. With a few years’ experience under his belt, he joined his parents in a business venture in Yanchep, where they had developed industrial units – one becoming the home of Yanchep Cabinets. He says that while there’s been strong demand for his custom cabinetry and bespoke benches, cabinet-makers face a few more challenges compared to other trades.
“Cabinetmaking can be harder to turn a profit because you need premises – and to pay for a lease or anything like that in town, you need a really big turnover,” he explains.
“So it’s not an overly lucrative trade, but obviously, because I’ve done it for so long, you learn efficiencies – and we try to do as much as we can here without outsourcing too much.”
Jason’s handiwork can be found in hundreds of homes all over Perth and the northern coastal towns – and his customised timber kitchens, walk-in robes, vanities, and laundries are well known to fit like a glove. Together with his wife Melanie, who joined the business in 2003, Yanchep Cabinets has carved a niche in the market, weathering the pandemic and the surge in the popularity of DIY.
It was COVID that actually brought the couple and their growing family of four boys back to the Northern Valleys. Now, tucked away behind the banksias on Gingin Brook Road in Muckenburra, their rural property offers plenty of space – both for Yanchep Cabinets’ massive industrial shed and for the country lifestyle Jason always missed. “I’m a country boy at heart – and living in the city just got too crowded.”
A sign out front draws passing trade, and with the established clients from his years out at the coast, Jason and his full-time employee Rohan, who started out as an apprentice, have a constant stream of work. Not even the ease of Ikea and the lure of the Bunnings flatpack aisle can beat true craftsmanship.
“We get a lot of enquiries from people who’ve put in a DIY kitchen and can’t get their benchtop to work and things like that,” says Jason.
“We can help them by crafting something unique and solid that’s going to be a timeless showpiece for their kitchen.”
A coveted collection of timber slabs Jason has bought from auctions and clearing sales are stacked in the shed waiting for the perfect home.
“A big thing with timber is when you purchase it, you don’t know how long ago it was cut or how long it’s been sitting for. So, sometimes I have a piece of timber here for 10 years before the right person comes along. I don’t really advertise it – I just buy it when I know that it’s a good price and then wait for a client to come along who is looking for the perfect piece.”
While some might cut corners to reduce their costs, that not Jason’s philosophy.
“We don’t try to compete with Bunnings or the like on prices – though we’re actually not too much more expensive. We know our builds last ten times longer and we can create to spec – it’s a totally different product.”
While his older two boys look to be heading to university, Jason still has hopes the younger two might choose to take up the trade, following in their dad’s footsteps.
