Clarksville, TN – The Military Affairs Committee of the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce recently named R3 Cabinets as its Veteran Business of the Month.
Kevin Piper and Zach Leggett are the veterans behind the company, which is relatively new to the market. Both are retired 5th Group guys, Piper in 2023, Leggett in 2020
Piper started in real estate investing five years ago, buying distressed homes, remodeling, renting, and flipping. “I noticed there was some variability in the cabinet market,” Piper said. “I wasn’t finding the solutions I was looking for. I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out where cabinets come from and all things cabinets.”
At that point, Leggett was working in corporate America. When Piper began talking to Leggett about what he saw as ‘cabinet problems’, cost and timeline being the big issues, the two quickly realized there was a gap in the marketplace.
That’s when R3 Cabinets was created. R3 stands for right cabinets, right place, right time.
Competitive pricing and reliability are our two main value propositions,” Piper said. “You tell us the day you want the cabinets to be at your job site, and they will be there that day. Our typical customer would be more B2B, like a builder or remodeler. But if anyone is doing a remodel and wants cabinets for their own project, we can help.”
R3 Cabinets doesn’t do the manufacturing. They purchase straight from the manufacturer, streamline the supply chain and distribution processes, and by doing so create a lot of cost efficiency.
“With cabinets, very little of what you see in homes and businesses today is ‘custom’,” Leggett said. “It’s mostly pretty standard. You can come to us with your interior dimensions, and we can put a design together for you. We offer twelve standard styles, an assortment of modern and traditional, and some other style variations, with rail sizes, colors and such.”
R3 orders straight from the manufacturer and sources from more than one supplier. “Like, for example, the White Shakers that we sell,” Piper said. “Having multiple suppliers assures our customers they will get what they want when they need it. Redundant supply chains are key to us meeting our commitments.”
R3 held its ribbon cutting in September, and things are going really well. “We have lots of sales under our belt and lots of commitments for larger projects already in the pipeline,” Piper continued. “Most of our clients are in the business and work with their preferred installers.
“We take a lot of the principles we acquired over our careers and apply them with the implementation of systems and processes.”
Piper is from Wisconsin. He came to Fort Campbell in 2007. Leggett is originally from California. He arrived at Fort Campbell in 2004. “I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else at this point,” Piper said. “I have a great network of people that I’ve built relationships with over the years. There are a lot of great people here and lots of great businesses. The weather is another factor that made me want to retire in Tennessee. It’s not Florida, it’s not Wisconsin, you get the best of both worlds.”
For Leggett, staying in Tennessee has a lot to do with the people.”I like it here,” Leggett said. “Both my parents live in Tennessee now, dad in Clarksville and mom in Chattanooga. Tennessee is a great state, not only for the business environment but also as a place to raise a family. It’s a great mix of rural and urban. If you want to be around many people, Nashville is just down the road. Kevin grew up on a farm so this isn’t new to him but I grew up in the concrete jungle, so just being able to see the color green is awesome.
“The biggest reason is how people treat each other here. When my dad first came to visit, people were just organically nice, so much so, he wondered if they were working an angle. You get here and realize people can just be nice for no reason. And, It took 15 minutes to transfer a title at the County Clerk’s office, everyone was nice and friendly. That’s something you don’t find in most cities. We’re glad to be here.”
During R3’s business planning and development process, Planter’s Bank was running their seed grant competition. “We submitted our plan, and got selected as one of the top five,” Piper said. “We pitched our plan, and won that competition. We can’t say enough about the support that Planter’s Bank has given us, and so many others who have been tremendously helpful.
“It all comes back to the community aspect of Clarksville. They don’t want anything in return, they are just really supportive of local businesses.”
R3 Cabinets is located at The Press 211 South Second Street, Suite 257. Reach them at 931.263.8600 or at www.r3cabinets.com
