Cabinet makeovers keep Kitchen Tune-Up franchisees busy

Arlene Phillips hangs up the phone. New customer, same old story.

Getting rid of oak is keeping us in business," she said.

Actually, the Kitchen Tune-Up franchise that Phillips owns with her husband, Jim, does a lot more than just redo oak cabinets. But that work has been a mainstay.

Asked what customers prefer over oak, Jim replied: Anything else."

The Phillipses started Kitchen Tune-Up in the summer of 2005, after Jim had spent 17 years working for Learjet.

Whats the politically correct way to say this?" he said. I was ready for a change."

Arlene, meanwhile, had just retired as a school secretary for Maize. That job, she said, prepared her for the customer service aspect of owning a small business.

Arlene answers the phone and handles the paperwork while Jim, who always has been good with his hands, oversees the physical work; both do estimates and sales. They work out of their home in west Wichita and employ two people Charlotte Martin and Austin Koehn whom Arlene calls gold."

Kitchen Tune-Up is a franchise operation headquartered in Aberdeen, S.D. The couple considered a dozen different business opportunities, including starting their own business from scratch, before finding Kitchen Tune-Up through a franchise broker. They are the only franchisees in Kansas.

Jim said paying for a franchise was worth it because of the associated benefits, from training to help with marketing to being part of a buying network.

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Cabinet makeovers keep Kitchen Tune-Up franchisees busy