Huntwood Industries Inc., the Liberty Lake-based cabinet manufacturer, says it has reduced the size of its full-time work force by about 9 percent over the last few months due in part to weaker sales this year.

Separately, Huntwood says it has opened to the public a 10,000-square-foot home-idea "showcase" at its manufacturing plant, to sell directly to customers there.

Brandon Hunt, manager of sales administration at Huntwood, says the number of full-time workers the company employs has fallen from 683 in May to 620 this month. The company had 739 employees in May 2007.

Some of the recent work-force reductions have been the result of "normal attrition due to people going back to school, (or) moving," and the company has opted not to fill some of those positions, Hunt says.

"For the building industry, sales have been lowering steadily over the last year or so and, yes, part of the reduction is due to that," he says. "Every year we have seasonal ups and downs, with the summer months being busier than the winter months."

This year sales are down about 15 percent from last year, he says. The company is projecting 15 percent higher sales by the end of next year, he says, which would return them to 2007 levels.

"And we hope that the new showcase will have a significant impact on the end of this year and next year's sales," he says.

Tim Hunt, Huntwood's president, says the showroom will serve as a research tool for home owners to get ideas for remodeling projects and will feature custom woodwork for the entire home.

"We are excited to be showing an entire range of products from entry level to extreme high end," Hunt says. "During economic slowdowns, many people turn to remodeling."

Consumers also will be able to buy directly from the company the products displayed there, Brandon Hunt says.

"We can easily compete with the pricing of any of the large box stores, because we are selling factory direct, and don't have to ship the product 2,000 miles, plus add the 40 percent markup they do," he says.

He says the showroom has 40 full-room cabinet displays, for kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, offices, closets, entertainment centers, and other areas of the home, and is staffed by sales representatives.

Huntwood had planned to open the showroom since it first moved into its 567,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, at 23800 E. Appleway, in early 2006.

"It has taken roughly a year to finish, because there was so much design and engineering involved in all of the different displays," Hunt says.

"It is now our retail presence here locally and is open to the general public, home builders, and remodelers," he says.

"We also have experts who only do cabinetry, and so they know exactly what (to show customers) when people want to build new or remodel," he says. Huntwood also has installers who can install the cabinets consumers buy at its showcase, he says.