What is The Merillat Way™?
Every brand has a tagline. Few have a purpose. The Merillat Way™ is more than words. It’s a way of doing business. And it all started with a husband, a wife, and a simple but timeless premise.
Our HistoryA small workshop and a set of guiding principles
In 1946, Orville and Ruth Merillat opened a small woodworking shop in Adrian, Michigan. No national ambitions. No brand strategy. Just a commitment to building things well and treating the people they worked with the way they’d want to be treated.
Orville had a saying: “Do your best and then some.” Every cabinet that left the workshop reflected a belief that quality is the baseline you don’t negotiate.
Slow and steady growth followed. Merillat pioneered standardized cabinet sizing, introduced the first self-closing hinge, and built delivery systems that actually worked when builders needed them to. It was innovation driven by practicality. Over the decades, that small Michigan operation grew into America’s leading builder-preferred cabinetry brand. Solving real problems for real partners, one job at a time.
More than 80 years later, these guiding principles still drive every decision.
A partnership philosophy that runs deep
Orville understood something that a lot of companies still haven’t figured out. As he put it: “If you put money in the pockets of your customers, they’ll take care of you.” That’s a business model that Merillat still runs on.
The Merillat Way™ leads to:
Speed that simply works. Merillat Basics™ and Merillat Classic® orders ship in two weeks or less through Merillat FastTrack™. Merillat Autograph™ ships in three. Replacement parts in one. Your project timelines are commitments we design around.
Breadth that wins the neighborhood. Three distinct lines. Thousands of door, finish, and accessory combinations. The right style at the right price for any project, whether it’s a first home or a full custom remodel.
Confidence you can count on. Responsive systems, streamlined tools, and a partnership that goes beyond projects. We’re accountable to every order because every order is someone’s kitchen. And someone’s reputation.
Still walking with our customers
The Merillat Way™ comes down to this: Build it well. Ship it fast. Stand behind it completely. Help the people who sell it and install it win more business. Repeat.
“Every journey starts with a first step.” Orville said that, too. Eighty years in, we’re still walking proudly.