Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Kirby Dailey
Kirby Dailey, a 1977 Colfax High graduate, will open LizaJane Cabinets early next year on Highway 26 in Colfax.
Newly broken ground at the northwest corner of Colfax on Highway 26 is set to become a custom cabinet shop owned and operated by native Kirby Dailey.
The shop will come out of Mitz’s Cabinets in Garfield, which Dailey bought two years ago from Craig Mitzemberg.
Dailey, a Colfax High graduate of 1977, quit working at Decagon Devices in Pullman in May as senior vice president-operations, after 15 years. Previously, he farmed with his father and grandfather.
Terry Harwood, owner of the Colfax NAPA, broke ground Sept. 22 on the 50x80-foot shop building which Dailey will lease as a space for LizaJane Cabinets, named after Dailey’s wife Elizabeth.
Dailey and three employees will make custom cabinets for residential and commercial properties.
“In a perfect world I’d be moving in by the first of the year,” Dailey said.
A longtime dabbler in woodworking and enthralled by his grandfather’s shop as a child, Dailey learned the trade through Mitzemberg and other mentors, using hickory, beech, oak, walnut and other woods.
Dailey hopes for a 70/30 breakdown between residential and commercial production with an eye on a large market in Whitman and Latah counties.
“We think we can compete with the retailers, the box stores,” Dailey said. “They’re setting the price, we just have to come up with some of the efficiencies and better quality.”
Focusing on cabinets at first, the operation may later expand.
“As our reputation goes up, people may naturally ask about other items,” Dailey said, noting a hope to get into custom furniture such as dressers and credenzas.
“Hopefully we’d then move into dining tables and chairs,” Dailey said. “I’d like to run out of space.”
Running out of space is familiar to Dailey as he and Elizabeth have raised five children in Colfax, with the youngest, Sam, graduating from Colfax High School in 2015. They now have nine grandchildren with three more expected.
Overall, the custom cabinets project represents a longtime part of Dailey and what he has learned over the course of his life.
“Decagon taught me you really can be the best in the world in your niche market. I hope to be the best cabinet maker. But this isn’t really about cabinets. It’s my turn to give a little back,” Dailey said.
“I grew up in Grandpa’s wood shop. It was a magical place. My memories of this community play back like a Norman Rockwell painting. Two years as a missionary in Europe and thirty-six years of marriage have taught me the real source of joy and fulfillment. I got to farm with my father and grandfathers for 20 years and rode the coattails of world-class scientists and engineers for the last 15. What I really want to do is create a workplace environment where fellow employees can enjoy the kind of engagement, intimacy and fulfillment others have provided my family over the course of my life.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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