WINSLOW -- Today is such a big shopping day that many people will be out at the stores before the morning paper lands on their porch.

Kris Reynolds is one of those people who would like you to remember the local businesses as well.

Reynolds is kind of a local success story, a teacher at Erskine Academy who created a niche business in Winslow, and somehow, during a recession, has found enough customers to keep it going.

Reynolds is the owner of Reynolds Custom Woodworks, a custom cabinet-making business located on the China Road. Oddly enough, he started the business in 2005 as a furniture shop.

"We had 800 square feet," Reynolds said. "We slowly started picking up, started doing more kitchens, more cabinetry. It became more of a kitchen shop than a furniture shop."

After starting the business, Reynolds said he had some dry spells, including one stretch of two months without a customer. He kept doing research, and when he got a cabinetry job, he bought new equipment so he could do the next one faster.

The business has a Web site at http://customcabinetpro.com, but Reynolds says most of his advertising is from friends telling friends. Business has grown to the point where he now has a workspace of 3,200 spare feet and it has become a second full-time job.

"To be honest with you, I probably work 90 hours a week," Reynolds said recently from his shop. "I teach at Erskine Academy, so during the day I'm out there and at night I'm in here. I take Monday and Sunday afternoons off. Other than that, I'm right straight out.

"I work long days, but I have to at this point, because the business is in its infant stage and I'm really trying to kick it to the next level, so I'm putting a lot of work in here. I've done it for four or five years now, so I'm used to it. I can't sit at home and do nothing -- I'd go crazy."

Of course, this isn't the best time to be trying to build a new business in a small town in America. Reynolds said people often ask him how he is able to get customers for kitchen cabinets in this kind of economy.

"It kind of makes sense in a way," he said. "People, though they might not be out buying things, they can't sell their house, so they're going to fix it up and sell it later, when things turn around. Why not enjoy it while you have it? So people are putting things in."

Reynolds said the "custom" part of his business is what attracts a lot of his current customers. He says they have been to other places and couldn't find the kind of cabinets they wanted, so they stop by his shop and bring a picture.

"People who come in here lately know what they want," Reynolds said. "They're tired of junk. People come to me all the time with drawings: 'I want this!' -- That's what I do. The sky's the limit."

The shop is a simple one -- you walk through a plain green door and see people working -- but Reynolds likes it that way. He sees it as a reminder of a time when you could walk into a shop, shake the owner's hand, have him take out a calculator, and work out a deal.

That kind of personal service is what he's selling. He's up front in conversation and on his Web site about the differences between his shop and a nationally known outlet.

"I'm going to get outbid by a couple of the big-box stores in town. There's just no way (around) that," Reynolds said. "But I'm going to kick their butt in quality all day long, and I'm confident in that. I'm not selling a price. I'm selling quality, a throwback to the way things used to be.

"I get people in here, they have plans from the big-box stores: 'I went here and this is how much. Can you do it for that?' No, I can't. My quote is always, 'How many times do you want to buy a kitchen? Do you want to buy it once, or do you want to buy it twice? You buy it from me, you buy it one time."

Reynolds lives near the business he built, and wants to stay in Maine. That 4-year-old business is at the point where he can speak hopefully about what could happen many years down the road.

"I would love to have my kids, at some point, take it over," he said. "I don't plan on going anywhere. I don't want to do a quick hit, and then sell and move. I want this to be around for a while. I want to build up a decent enough name that people in the state know Reynolds Custom Woodworks."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com