User:Cullen328/sandbox/Blum


 * Keep I will begin by disclosing that I have been a licensed cabinet and millwork contractor in California for over 26 years, and am familiar with this company and their products on a daily basis. In my opinion, Julius Blum GmbH is the most influential company in the modernization of the worldwide cabinet industry in the past half century. They are a significant multinational corporation with over 5,000 employees. This article in the San Jose Mercury-News describes their efforts to recruit skilled workers in the United States. This article in the Charlotte Observer describes major expansion of their manufacturing facility in North Carolina. This 1997 article (in German) describes the company's growth in the United States. This 2009 article (in German) describes the devastating impact of the recession on their business. This 2010 article (in German) describes how they survived the recession. Their Bloomberg-Business Week profile verifies their revenues of $1.66 billion per year. This website of a solar energy company says that they have production facilities in Poland, Austria, Brazil and the United States, and describes their reliance on solar energy. Here's an Austrian business website that profiles the company. Here an article in the Charlotte Business Journal about their operations in the United States. Sweet's Catalog, the authoritative source for information about construction supplies, describes the company as "a leading manufacturer of functional hardware for the cabinet and furniture industry specializing in concealed hinges and drawer runner systems. Virtually all of the hardware needed to assemble and make casegoods functional are available within the wide range of lifetime guaranteed Blum products. Blum's manufacturing and distribution complex in Stanley, North Carolina supplies the North American markets through a network of more than 150 dependable distributors.  Wholly owned by the Blum family, the company was formed in 1952 by Julius Blum and is headquartered in in Hoechst. Austria."