California Closets is a manufacturer of custom

closets A closet (especially in North American usage) is an enclosed space, with a door, used for storage, particularly that of clothes. ''Fitted closets'' are built into the walls of the house so that they take up no apparent space in the room. Closet ...

and storage for homes. The company provides its products through its showrooms

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

business systems in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, and

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. As of October 21, 1998, California Closet Company, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of FirstService Brands Inc..

History

California Closets was founded in 1978 by Neil Balter. Balter started the business after putting shelves in a friend's closet. The company redesigns closets with new racks, shelves, drawers and baskets of various sizes and shapes. The franchise business grew as Balter was featured on various shows including

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

and

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

. In 1990, the company was purchased by

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is an American publicly traded consumer retail company that sells kitchenware and home furnishings. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. The company has 625 brick and mortar stores and distribute ...

In 1994, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. sold California Closets. In 1998

FirstService Corporation FirstService Corporation is a Canadian public real estate services company, specializing in residential property services, and based in Toronto, Ontario. It is listed on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange. History FirstService was founded i ...

acquired California Closets as a subsidiary. Today, FirstService Corporation continues to acquire franchised operations within its California Closets franchise system. In 2017, the company began to incorporate virtual reality (VR) technology for clients to envision design projects in their homes.

External links

Official website

References

{{Reflist, 2 Companies based in Alameda County, California Companies based in California Retail companies established in 1978 Franchises American subsidiaries of foreign companies