Celebrating Our Partners:
When it comes to Interior Finishes, Metrie is North America’s leader! For 75 years, we have been fortunate to have incredible partners like Metrie. We are honored to be an authorized dealer of Metrie products. It is their commitment to excellence and quality that gives us the ability to fulfill our mission of providing quality millwork, expert advice, and exceptional service to our customers. For 95 years, Metrie has set the bar for our industry.
About Metrie: Industry Leader and Innovator
They began their 95 year journey in 1926 as a small family-owned business. The company’s focus and devotion to craft and craftsmanship has transformed them into becoming the largest supplier and manufacturer of solid wood and composite moulding in North America. Metrie currently operates five solid wood and MDF manufacturing facilities and 26 distribution centers across the US and Canada. From their humble beginnings, Metrie has been able to carry their values and high standard for excellence through their evolution.
Because of their success, Metrie is the go to when it comes to interior finishes. Their product has been highlighted in today’s top design blogs, televisions shows, and in retail stores across the country. Metrie’s expansive catalog, interactive website, and creative marketing campaigns make them an invaluable resource. We had the opportunity to reach out to our friends at Metrie to get some answers to our most pressing questions, and to find out the keys to their success.
Branding and Company History:
1. Like McCoy, Metrie is celebrating an important anniversary this year, 95 years! Congratulations! Metrie is currently the largest supplier of and manufacturer of solid wood and composite moulding in North America. How has Metrie been able to maintain that family owned culture over the years with that level of success?
Metrie is built on a foundation of family values that our founders instilled in our culture over the years. We use our five values: Passion, Respect, Integrity, Collaboration, and Excellence to guide the work we do each day, it’s how we interact with our customers and colleagues to provide a great experience.
2. McCoy has gone through many name changes over the years, Metrie has done the same. Are you able to run us through some of that timeline and how you evolved into your current brand Metrie?
Prior to Metrie, we were known as Moulding & Millwork. The name was how many would refer to our category overall, in other words, it wasn’t exactly a name we could own in the market. Launching the new name in 2014 allowed us to start building our own unique identity as a company and brand. It allowed us to define who we are and what we provide to the customers we serve. We liked that the name we ultimately decided on was a derivative of “Geometry”, which is relevant in our product category and in the application of our products.
3. What would you consider to be a key turning point of Metrie’s evolution? Can you pinpoint a factor that allowed you to take your business to the next level?
We believe in putting our people first. In recent years, we have invested in our people, which we believe is the most critical part of our continued evolutions and success. Having worked with many colleagues across Metrie, I can tell you that we are very passionate about taking care of each other and our customers. We work together as one team to set and accomplish goals.
Challenges and Triumphs:
4. In the US, mouldings are often regional, meaning what is available on the east coast is not available on the west coast. Why the selective regional inventory?
Wood species, as well as housing styles vary (Farmhouse, Modern, Colonial etc.)…there are some styles that seem universal, like Craftsman, but even with that moulding profile preferences around size and material can be different. For example, you will see more natural woods used in some regions, while others prefer composite that come primed for painting. There is also the difference in ceiling height or proportions in homes. In markets where you typically have high ceilings, you’ll see larger moulding profiles than in more urban areas where the spaces might be tighter and require shorter or narrower profiles.
5. How do you adapt to and accommodate radically changing design trends? Can you think of one of your best success stories design wise? What about failure?
Realizing the “chaos of choice” millwork caused helped us create our Option M/Collections. We see failures as opportunities to learn and adjust. One thing we’ve learned over the years is that just because there is a particular design trend occurring, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ideal or applicable to our product categories. Being able to identify the design trends that work best for interior trim applications and helping people through the selection process to achieve a particular design in where we’ve found success.
6. How integral are retail stores like ours in the overall success of Metrie’s business? How do we influence your decisions?
Extremely important as the reach and feedback from the end user (homeowner/builder) is invaluable. Staying in front of what is desired from design, or ease of installation is key to both of our successes.
Looking Ahead:
7. Do you have any new product lines on the horizon that we can look forward to?
If you’re not familiar, we have our pre-painted product line, Metrie Complete. This is great for builders, contractors, or homeowners looking for a high quality, professional result that saves valuable time and resources from having to paint. (McCoy Millwork is currently stocking the Rustic Shiplap and Pre-painted White Shiplap).
8. Where does Metrie see itself growing in the next 5-10 years? What are some major goals?
We are growing! We will continue to find ways to support our customers through better digital solutions, as one example. Metrie is an industry leader and we want to continue to be when we enter our second century!
In conclusion, for nearly a century, Metrie has proven why they are North America’s leader in Interior Finishes. We stock a wide variety of Metrie products, and have quick access to more. To find out more about Metrie and their lines of products, check out their website, or their blog, The Finished Space, or ask our sales team! We look forward to our continued, lasting relationship with Metrie.
BONUS: Check out our exclusive interview with Mike Lee (Regional Director) and Ryan Neumeyer (Territory Manager) of Metrie on our official podcast; Renovation Round-Up. Happy Listening!