8 March 2015

PRESS RELEASE – Three new shareholders are taking the helm of Interfonction Ltd., better known by its brand name, Kadrium Design, with ambitious growth projects. A manufacturer of aluminum products for furniture, doors, and cabinets for 25 years, the Sherbrooke company now aims to break into the hotel industry, upscale construction, and luxury condos market.

For their business succession project, purchasers Ian Tardif, Johanne Tousignant, and Sébastien Fournier benefitted from technical support from Pro-Gestion Estrie, in addition to $10 000 in financial assistance from Sherbrooke Innopole, through its New Entrepreneur Fund. The project, valued at nearly $1 million in total, will consolidate 25 existing jobs.

Josée Fortin, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole, Ian Tardif, VP Operations and Development at Interfonction, and Johanne Thibault, Management Advisor at Pro-Gestion Estrie

“In recent months, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of business successions. We are delighted that entrepreneurs are increasingly considering succession as a way of getting into business. It’s essential given the many businesses that will need to pass on the torch in the coming years. Interfonction is a great example of a successful transfer of ownership: the new managers have promising expansion projects,” said Josée Fortin, Sherbrooke Innopole’s Director General.

Interfonction specializes in manufacturing high-end custom products, such as cabinet doors, sliding doors, and innovative storage systems made of aluminum frames and glass inserts. Its brand name, Kadrium Design, is well known for its innovative spirit and trendy products, which have fueled its reputation in North America.

Benefitting from the business’s strong reputation in the cabinetmaking and kitchen design markets, the new management team now aims to increase its presence with residential housing developers, the hotel industry, and trend developers (architects, designers, stylists) through its range of storage systems and its new feature product, high-end sliding doors. Whether suspended or with a floor rail, these doors can be configured in several ways, from a single retractable door to a room divider with up to five panels.

“The current design trends of clean lines, light materials, and aluminum play in our favour. Moreover, the economic and demographic forecasts in Canada and the United States are rising, which suggests that there may be additional housing needs and a significant increase in the renovation market. We see great business opportunities in this, which we couldn’t pass up, especially given that we have the space needed to increase our production by 50%,” said Ian Tardif, Vice-President of Operations and Development at Interfonction.

The company’s products are manufactured at two separate locations. Work related to cutting frames is carried out at the company’s headquarters on Bonin Street, and activities related to cutting and handling glass is done at the facility on De Cherbourg Street. In addition to direct sales to customers, the company also has a network of roughly 10 distributors in Canada and the United States.