A Chattanooga real estate developer has purchased a local maker of kitchen cabinets and other furniture with a future eye on potentially using the products in his residential projects.
Developer Hiren Desai has acquired Hitson Cabinets to revive the long-standing family business that faltered during the pandemic and fell into involuntary bankruptcy.
Desai, whose 3H Group has been known for developing hotels but who is involved in other types of real estate ventures, said in an interview that Hitson was reorganized and production was restarted about a month ago.
“Everything is running,” Desai said, adding that 15 employees were initially brought back to work. The company’s Gunbarrel Road showroom is open, and a manufacturing facility in Rock Spring, Georgia, is operating again, he said.
“The organization has emerged from its time of insolvency and is ready to begin a new chapter,” Desai said.
While 3H Group builds hotels, utilizing Hitson products in the lodging business is “phase two” for the furniture company, according to Desai.
“Phase one is doing what it did for 18 years,” Desai said.
Hitson Cabinets was started in 2004 and was previously owned and operated by Gary Hitson and his family.
Now the company’s general manager, Hitson said in an interview that sales initially took off at the outset of the pandemic. But supply shortages and inflation took a toll, and the company struggled, he said.
Desai’s partnership has allowed the business to restart while the company begins working toward fulfilling past, current and future customer orders, officials said.
The business makes not only cabinets but custom furniture such as closets, bookcases, kitchen islands and commercial storage solutions, Hitson said. The company has rebranded as simply Hitson to highlight that it makes a variety of products.
Desai said he’s putting “a couple” million dollars into the business, which offers goods from concept to completion.
“We design, manufacture and do installation,” Desai said.
Hitson said he is “extremely grateful for Hiren’s support and willingness to give us a second chance after facing such difficulties.”
“I know many businesses are unable to come back from situations such as ours, and we are humbled by this opportunity and the faith he’s placed in us as we get back on our feet,” Hitson said.
In addition to bringing back employees, the company has begun to restore relationships with vendors and customers affected by the financial struggles, officials said.
Desai said he has seen and believes in the quality of work produced by the Hitson team.
“My goal is to help renew a family-owned local business, while continuing to provide the high-quality custom works that the company was founded on,” he said.
Desai’s 3H Group late last year proposed a Caption by Hyatt hotel in Chattanooga’s Southside at 105 W. Main St., which would be the first Hyatt in the city. The developer said earlier that 3H Group is slated to build the 123-room hotel near the key Main and Market streets corner in a $30 million project.
In 2021, 3H Group formed a strategic alliance with an Alabama-based business to create one of the biggest hotel management operations in the Southeast.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.