What Kent Design & Manufacturing does

Kent Design & Manufacturing (KDM) is a privately held specialty manufacturer headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, operating two product lines: decorative woven wire products and custom point-of-purchase (POP) displays. The decorative wire line comprises 43 unique grille designs manufactured from various gauges of steel wire using four crimp techniques (single, flat, intercrimped, press crimped) and over 50 finish options spanning electroplated, powder coating, and a proprietary Designer Series. Standard sheet sizes include 48" x 72", 36" x 48", and 24" x 72", with a 4-week lead time and custom sheet production available. The custom displays line is a turnkey service covering concept development, design, prototype, manufacturing, and fulfillment for retail environments, producing free-standing, counter-top, peg board, slotwall, shelving, check-out aisle, power wings, profit bins, and end-cap displays.

The company's underlying technology is proprietary mechanical tooling: custom wire crimping and weaving machinery that supports domain-specific design flexibility (round, square, or flat wires in many gauges) and finishing capability. KDM operates from a single facility in Grand Rapids and emphasizes Made-in-USA production. Distribution is hybrid: decorative wire products move through a distributor network across the U.S. and Canada (locatable via zip code on the company website), while custom display projects are sold directly via a sales contact (Dave Faulkner). An e-commerce storefront supports sample requests and product discovery for the SMB/individual buyer segment. Free samples (up to 5 per customer) are used as a demand-generation tool.

KDM operates in three primary customer segments: retail (grocery, department store, convenience, hardware, auto supply, office supply, home improvement, pharmacy, home living) for POP displays, architectural and interior design (cabinet inserts, fireplace screens, room dividers, ceiling treatments, furniture accents) for decorative wire, and craft beer/specialty retail. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; revenue is similarly undisclosed. The company is privately held with no institutional investment, no management team publicly listed on the website, and no disclosed funding activity.

Name

Kent Design & Manufacturing

Legal name

Kent Design & Manufacturing

Website

https://kentdesign.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kent Design & Manufacturing is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based manufacturer of decorative woven wire products (43 grille designs) and custom point-of-purchase retail displays, selling through a U.S./Canada distributor network and direct sales to retail, architectural, and specialty-beverage customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Grand Rapids

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Display Products: Full service manufacturer of Point of Purchase displays and store fixtures using steel, wood, glass, plastic and graphics. Turn key services include concept development, design, prototype, manufacturing and fulfillment. Products include Free Standing, Counter Top, Peg Board, Slotwall, Shelving, Check Out Aisle, Power Wings, Profit Bins, and End Cap displays.
2. Decorative Wire Products: Manufactures and sells decorative woven wire products (43 designs) through distributors. Products are available in standard sheet sizes with 4-week lead time. Custom cut quotes available through distributors. Samples provided free (up to 5).
3. Sample Sales: Full sample sets of wire designs and finishes can be purchased from distributors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kent Design & Manufacturing manufactures decorative woven wire products (43 stock designs with multiple finish options) and custom point-of-purchase (POP) retail displays built to retailer specifications. Products include stock wire grilles used in cabinetry, furniture, and architectural applications, plus bespoke display fixtures such as the Craft Beer Rack, all produced in-house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company serves retailers, home improvement centers, design centers, mass merchants, architects, designers, contractors, and OEMs through direct sales and a North American distributor network.

Product overview

Kent Design & Manufacturing is a manufacturer of two primary product lines: Decorative Woven Wire products and Custom Point-of-Purchase Displays. The Decorative Woven Wire line comprises 43 distinct decorative wire grille designs manufactured from various gauges of steel wire, custom crimped and woven to create decorative patterns. These are available in multiple wire styles (round, square, flat), crimp types (Single Crimped, Flat Crimped, Press Crimped, Intercrimped), and over 50 finish options including electroplated, Designer Series, and powder coating finishes. Standard sheet sizes include 48" x 72", 36" x 48", and 24" x 72". The Custom Displays line offers point-of-purchase displays and store fixtures utilizing steel, wood, glass, plastic, and graphics, with turn-key services including concept development, design, prototype, manufacturing, and fulfillment. Display types include Free Standing, Counter Top, Peg Board, Slotwall, Shelving, Check Out Aisle, Power Wings, Profit Bins, and End Caps for various retail environments including Grocery, Department Store, C-store, Hardware, Auto Supply, Office Supply, Home Improvement, Pharmacy, and Home Living. The company also distributes through a network of distributors throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Decorative Woven Wire

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Amazing Spaces LLCminorOthersAmazing Spaces LLC is referenced as a photo courtesy for one of the company's installations, indicating a customer or project relationship.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• WireCrafters: WireCrafters is a custom wire products manufacturer specializing in woven and welded wire partitions, security enclosures, and architectural wire products. It is comparable to Kent Design through its custom wire fabrication capabilities and similar use of proprietary manufacturing processes for niche wire products.
• Displays2Go: Displays2Go is a large online retailer and manufacturer of POP displays, store fixtures, and merchandising equipment serving retail and commercial buyers. It overlaps with Kent's Custom Displays business through standardized display fixtures, though it competes primarily on catalog breadth and e-commerce convenience rather than fully custom turnkey projects.
• Marlin Steel Wire Products: Marlin Steel is a custom wire products manufacturer using automated bending, forming, and welding equipment to produce fabricated wire components for industrial and commercial customers. It is comparable to Kent through its custom wire fabrication capabilities, though Marlin focuses more on industrial OEM customers than decorative architectural markets.
• Direct Metals: Direct Metals is a wire mesh and perforated metal manufacturer/distributor offering architectural and industrial wire products. It is comparable to Kent Design's decorative wire business through its woven wire and architectural mesh offerings, though with a more industrial-leaning product mix.
• Cumberland Wood Products / Creative Display: Creative Display (formerly associated with Cumberland) is a POP display and store fixture manufacturer offering custom displays, signage, and merchandising solutions to retail chains. It competes with Kent Design's Custom Displays business for similar enterprise retail fixture programs.
• Stein Industries: Stein Industries manufactures custom retail store fixtures, POP displays, and merchandising solutions using metal, wire, wood, and acrylic — directly comparable to Kent's Custom Displays line. It serves similar enterprise retail customers across multiple retail verticals with turnkey design-and-build services.
• Bankers Wire: Bankers Wire is a closely comparable decorative woven wire grille manufacturer offering multiple woven patterns, finishes, and architectural specification options. It is the most direct head-to-head competitor to Kent Design's decorative wire product line, serving the same architectural and interior design end markets.
• Spacewall Industries: Spacewall manufactures slotted wall and grid panel display systems used in retail store fixtures and POP merchandising. It overlaps with Kent's Custom Displays line through retail fixture manufacturing, particularly for hardware, automotive, and home improvement verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Worthington Industries: Worthington Industries is a large, publicly traded metal processing and fabricated metal products company with a pressure cylinders and steel processing business that overlaps with the broader fabricated wire and metal products space. While not a direct decorative wire competitor, it represents the scale-end of metal fabrication against which Kent's specialty positioning must differentiate.
• McNichols: McNichols is the largest U.S. distributor of wire mesh, perforated metal, and gratings, offering a much broader product portfolio across industrial and architectural categories. It overlaps with Kent on decorative and architectural wire mesh but serves a far wider range of industrial and commercial customers with standardized catalog offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kentdesignmfg
• Pinterestpinterest.com/kentdesignmfg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kent Design & Manufacturing