Meet Keith Webster of Kisabeth Furniture in Design District and Fort Worth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Webster.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Company was founded in 1958 by Carl Kisabeth. As mass production began to take over the industry, Carl’s vision was to offer architects and designers needed a source for quality furniture built using time-tested techniques, quality materials, uncompromising craftsmanship and adherence to the highest standards in design.

I learned of the company in 2013 as I was looking to make a career change from commercial real estate. My partners and I were impressed with the quality of the product and employees, many of whom have been with the company for decades.

We’re proud to have saved a company with such rich history while keeping 35 skilled craftsmen employed and are working to reinvigorate the brand while maintaining the ideals set forth by Carl Kisabeth.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been plenty of challenges. I like to say that we’re in the 5th year OF my 3 year turn around plan.

Working to change the culture and empower the employees to handle issues on the front lines has taken more time than I thought it would, but we’re starting to see improvements with quality control and reducing rework. We unexpectedly lost a key employee due to health issues and she took a lot of institutional knowledge with her. We’ve had to work hard at recreating processes or implement new ones to improve customer service and simplify our ordering process.

Please tell us about Kisabeth Furniture.
Kisabeth manufactures a broad range of upholstered seating, casegoods, and millwork for the residential, commercial and hospitality markets. We have an established line of products and have recently started new product development, but we’ve developed a niche for manufacturing custom products for the A&D community. Many items start as a sketch or a photograph, we work with the design team to flesh out the details and produce a piece of furniture that exceeds expectations.

Contact Info:

• Address: Dallas Showroom – 1313 Slocum, Dallas, TX 75207
  Fort Worth Factory/Office – 5320 Glenview Dr, Fort Worth, TX 76117
• Website: www.kisabethfurniture.com
• Phone: 817-281-7560 / 214-745-1340
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kisabethfurniture/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KisabethFurniture
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KisabethPR
• Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/kisabeth/kisabeth-furniture

Image Credit:
Kelly Sparks; Waters Restaurant/Hahnfeld, Hoffer, Stanford/GL Seaman; Alice Cottrell/Rick Rozas

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.