OUR HISTORY
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| The story of Klein's Custom Countertops begins with its founder, Fred G. Klein. Fred was born in Dreispitz, Russia in 1915 and emigrated to the United States in 1922. |
| He and his family initially settled in Rifle, Colorado where Fred met Clara Oswald who he married in 1944. Six months later Fred moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where he started a floor covering business (Linoleum and ceramic tile). |
| After WWII, countertops were commonly made from Linoleum edged with aluminum strips. In the early 1950's more and more countertops were using plastic laminate but were still using either wood or aluminum edging. Fred fabricated and installed many of these countertops before he realized that there was a better way. |
| In 1954, Fred learned of a manufacturer that was post forming laminate to line the inside of aircraft. |
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| Fred immediately saw the potential to use this technology to make countertops. He arranged to tour the aircraft fabrication facility but was told that he could not take any notes or any pictures. He came home and designed and built a post-forming machine in his garage from memory. The machine had to be designed differently because of the unique application for countertops, so Fred made the necessary adjustments and Klein's has been making quality countertops ever since! |
| Throughout the years, many new fabrication challenges were encountered to which Fred developed tools and techniques to overcome. |
| Because post-formed plastic laminate is made by bending sheets to produce the desired profile and splash, it is essentially a linear countertop. This combined to a limited available sheet size requires miters and seams to produce a complete kitchen. |
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| Most fabricators simply cut these miters with a large circular saw. This method can leave chips and irregularities in the seam. Fred developed a rotary trim seam machine that produced the tightest deck seams available. |
| Another unique obstacle was producing countertops for angle corner lazy susan cabinets. Fred developed an adjustable template system that consistently produced beautiful "pie" seams. Fred even designed and built a machine that made the particle board blanks for the laminate to adhere to. |
| In 1994, our fabrication facility literally went up in smoke. Our building and most of our equipment was destroyed by a horrible fire. At 80 years of age, Fred rebuilt the shop and was up and running in less than a year. Nearly all of the equipment was destroyed so Fred was called upon to build much of it by himself. |
| Fred passed away on 3 December, 1999 at 84 years old. We all miss his ability to solve complex manufacturing problems, and the spirit of determination that continues to inspire most of us at Klein's. We are very proud of the legacy which he left to us. Fred's great reputation in business was known nationwide, and we will always remember the quality that Fred was famous for instilling in his products. |
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OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE
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| Today, Klein's is still a family owned and operated business. The torch has passed to Fred's three sons: Jim, Rich, and Gary; and a couple of Fred's grandchildren: Matt and Candice. |
And although Fred has gone, his spirit of innovation lives on through the company. Klein's was the first shop to fabricate Corian in the 1970s, the first to utilize the Internet in 1994, and the first to specialize in natural quartz countertop surfaces. Its fabrication process is the most energy-efficient and ecologically-friendly in the Western United States and its precision laser templating system is the most accurate.
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| We are always developing new and better ways to produce countertops for our customers by continuing to infuse the latest technology with the finest craftsmanship. We recognize that you are not just purchasing a countertop, you are purchasing the local service and support that stands behind the product. Nobody can match our quality and service because we still put as much care and attention into our products as we did half-a-century ago. |
