1981
Where does this peculiar name come from? At the time we applied to register our company name, we were informed that all of our choices were ineligible. Therefore, the four founding partners, Harald and Erika Lincke and Tom and Connie Shorter decided that an acronym would do.

The company was started in a rented warehouse in Langley, BC Canada with a bank loan and a lot of determination and ambition. A handful of dealers immediately signed up, as they were not happy with their big local manufacturer. They liked the fact that Hertco was willing to do what it took to make the customer happy. Our first generation product was a dadoed particleboard cabinet with a paper print base finish. Initial door styles were limited to Laminate and Oak selections.

1986
After purchasing property in Delta, BC in a new business park and building a new 25,000 sq.ft. building, Hertco was first on the market with a painted MDF 5-piece door. Our main market was British Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon. We were approached by a large American manufacturer to become their exclusive supplier of frameless cabinets.

1989
With the market in the United States growing rapidly, Hertco built another 25,000 sq.ft. building next door to accommodate the accelerating demand for product from the dealer network. Hertco’s new factory produced an all doweled cabinet, with very flexible CNC machinery. Customers were delighted.

1994
After 5 years of good business, several events lead to the decision that would change the company forever: Harald and Erika retired, and a new company was formed in the United States, Hertco Kitchens LLC. The management team consisted of Sven Lincke, Sales and Marketing, Doug Blaschuk, Purchasing and Accounting and Xuong Dich, Production, as well as a dozen other longtime employees. We were ready to build a new company!

1997
A new factory was built in Ferndale, Washington USA. The 50,000 sq.ft. building was fully equipped with the most modern woodworking machinery. We specialized in the production of customized cabinetry which was becoming ever more popular with remodelers and custom home builders.

2005
We completed a 12,000 sq.ft. addition to our Ferndale factory, and gained more space for manufacturing flexibility. We provided a home to a 2,500 sq.ft. “dealer only” factory resource center, and displayed our newest and most progressive products.

2006
We completed the construction of a new cabinet assembly and distribution facility in Oahu, Hawaii, following the purchase of our largest dealer-distributor in Hawaii. This facility was also home to a “dealer only” resource center, and displayed both our Hertco product line as well as our “quick ship” (1-3 days!) Total Access cabinet line. Our ability to service the Hawaiian and South Pacific market with a broad range of products was greatly enhanced.

2007
Our dealer network had grown to approximately 250 dealers throughout the Pacific Rim, including the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, as well as our original grass roots in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Some of our original dealers and employees had been with us for 26 years. 2007 proved to be a strong year of sales and growth with greater demand for the wide range of our product lines, and the respect from our dealers for our dependability.

Our focus remained in delighting our customers by maintaining stability in our pricing, our production and delivery schedules.

Change in our product was a result of our open communication and reception of new ideas from our dealers and our sales representatives. Indicative of the company’s innovative engineering, many of the newest custom cabinets were incorporated into tomorrow’s standard offering

2008
Catalogs, brochures, websites and very importantly, our in house 20-20 cabinet design software specialist now support all branches and product lines comprehensively. We now write, modify and maintain all aspects of our electronic catalogs and can provide industry leading support and advice to our network of dealers using this software product.

2017
Several of our senior staff members are nearing their 20th anniversary of service to the company, providing our customers with an almost unheard of depth in product, design and market knowledge. Many of our customers tell us that the low risk of placing their orders with us, as well as the virtually flawless delivery of well built and attractive looking products make it easy to delight their own clients.