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About Us
Established in 1981, this cabinet shop first began in Paul’s
two-car garage with one employee in San Pedro. Within three
years of operation, the business outgrew the garage and so they
moved to a 2500 sq. ft. shop in Long Beach. They shared this
shop with a friend of the family who owned a restaurant. Paul
met Steve Hoff in 1987 and Steve came to work for the company then.
Their friendship continued and in 1991 an offer of partnership
was extended to Steve. He accepted and they have worked well
together ever since. In 1992 they purchased their first computer
and CAD software program. By 1994, the work load had continued to grow and with new machines and
8-10 employees the shop was once again just too small. They soon
found a 4,000 sq. ft. place not more than 4 blocks away. In 2004, they purchased their largest piece of
equipment to date, a CNC Router. When fed a 4x8 sheet of
material, this machine, run by a computer, will bore adjustable
shelf holes, hinge base plate holes, construction holes, as well
as dado, rabbit and cut out all cabinet and drawer parts in a very efficient
manner all at one time. This also gives them a much more square
and strong cabinet as well as speeds assembly and
installation. They can even do custom engraving with the
CNC Router. Due to even more success, in 2006 they moved
to their current location in North Long Beach. This 10,000
sq. ft. building houses all the operations of Nelsons Cabinets,
Inc.
Paul’s Bio:
Paul was born in 1958 in Garden Grove, Ca., and is the 5th child
of 6. His father died in 1968 and 4 years later moved with the
family to San Pedro. This has been his home ever since. He
graduated from high school in the spring of 1976. After high
school he attended a Bible college for one year in Washington
state,’76-’77 and then went to a community college back home
’77-’78. In the summer of 1978, he married his high school
sweetheart, Lynne Fawell. After the wedding, he worked as an
apprentice cabinetmaker for a local German craftsman, Helmut
Leintz, for three years, ’78-’80. In ‘81’ he worked as a
journeyman woodworker, installing stair systems in new homes for
Zenith stairways. Later on that same year Zenith Stairways went
out of business, which pretty much pushed Paul out on his own.
He started the cabinet shop business never thinking he would
still be doing this almost 25 years later. To this day, he is
still married to Lynne and they have three children. Tiffany,
born in 1981, a graduate of Azusa Pacific University, is now
married to Jimmy Holland. They have two children and live
in San Pedro as well. Amy, born in 1985, is a recent graduate of
Life Pacific College in San Dimas. Philip, born in 1987, is a
Junior at Oral Roberts University.
Steve's Bio Steve was born in Long Beach in the year
1965, and grew up in Downey. He enjoyed building and woodworking
with his grandfather at an early age. (His grandfather gave him
his first power circular saw at age 10 - Mom was not thrilled)
He also took every available shop class he could in 6th - 12th
grades. After graduating from High School in 1983, he attended
the Lutheran Bible Institute of California, 1983-85 and traveled
the United States with a singing group from LBI most of 1986.
Steve came to work for Paul at Nelson's Cabinets in January 1987
(he needed to get a real job if he wanted his fiancé, Kim Berry, to
become his wife) Steve & Kim were married in August 1987. In
1989 they had their first daughter, Sarah who was followed by a
second daughter,
Cristan, in 1992. They have enjoyed living in Lakewood since
1996.
Steve keeps busy in his spare time with several interests
including
serving on the Board of Trustees at his church overseeing the
property and two major remolding projects - adding bathrooms
along with 8
new school classrooms in 1995 and a complete overhaul of the
Sanctuary in 2000. He has also worked closely with Miracle Ranch
Children's Home in Valle Las Palmas, Mexico since the early
1990's and is on their Board of Directors. |
