Cabinetry lines for the exceptional home
Learn more about Impervious, our line of cabinetry specially designed for the outdoors, and nFusion, an innovative glass laminate line.
Making dreams come true since 1976
In 1976 Mel Archer began his career in fine cabinetry, building custom cabinets for gun collectors and selling them at trade shows. Then, as now, word of mouth helped his business grow and soon he was expanding to other kinds of cabinetry, including kitchens, baths, offices, and entertainment centers.
From the start it was a family business, with Mel’s wife Colleen helping with accounting and door finishing before eventually becoming Business Manager. Mel and Colleen’s three children got their first job experience at Pacific Design, with Jeremiah and Chris on the shop floor sweeping sawdust, building drawer boxes and learning to use the saws. Joy answered the phones and typed letters on an old typewriter.
Over the years Chris thrived in the business as his skills and talent for the work grew. In 2016, after 40 years running their own business, Mel and Colleen retired and sold the company to Chris. In true Archer fashion, Chris promptly hired his wife and daughter in leading roles to help him run the business. In spite of tremendous growth, Pacific Design remains a family-oriented company.
Pacific Design has a modernized shop and showroom in 25,000 square feet in Hillsboro, Oregon. Innovative cabinetry such as nFusion Glass, laminated glass cabinets, and Impervious Outdoor Cabinets are recent additions to an amazing array of style options.
Pacific Design’s expertise in custom cabinetry drives a reputation for highest quality and personal attention. We take care of our customers like they’re family – we’d like them to stick around for a long, long time.
Chris Archer, Owner
“I’m really proud that we’re a family business. I think it says a lot about our commitment and expertise, that my Dad ran this business so well for so long, and now I’m running it with my wife as business manager, and my daughter as a designer. We have a legacy here, and I’m proud to be part of it.”
Chris has been with Pacific Design for 35 years, working his way up from building drawer boxes at age 14 to now owning the company. In 2016 Chris bought Pacific Design from Mel Archer, Chris’ dad and founder of the company.
As the owner, Chris has kept many aspects of the company that helped it succeed, but he is also bringing a fresh take to some processes that save time and money for customers. He has streamlined production, moving jobs large and small through the shop more quickly, in some cases shaving as many as four weeks off the typical production time.
Thinking about the future of Pacific Design under his direction, Chris said, “I see us getting more efficient and better at what we’re doing right now. But we’re custom. Fully custom. We can’t do this level of custom detail and superior quality and just suddenly grow. That’s not a model that makes sense for us. We’ll continue to work with customers who appreciate our customer service, the customization and detail that is our specialty.”
Dominique Archer, business manager
“Pacific Design is going in a great direction under Chris’ leadership. If business operations in the company runs smoothly, then I’m doing my part to contribute to our success. This is how we can keep doing the best work we can.”
Dominique manages the business operations of Pacific Design, from job quotes to accounting, taxes, and retirement planning. She comes to this role from a long history of focus on the customer experience in positions with KMart, Fred Meyer, and in the funeral industry.
“We do everything custom at Pacific Design. We have customers who know what they want, and expect it to be delivered,” she said. “Good customer service is better than any kind of advertisement. It’s very important that the customer is completely satisfied. Unfortunately, true customer service is disappearing. But with us, it’s built into our business model.”
Dominique immigrated from France in 1984, and eventually met Chris Archer. They married in 2000. She likes to spend time with her grown children, she gardens and works on the house, and keeps three dogs happy.
ashlee archer, designer
“We stand for quality, and it’s not cheap or fast. It takes time to customize something like a kitchen or a bathroom or an office. When the world is wanting off-the-shelf, disposable things, we’re the forward-thinkers slowing down to shake that up.”
Ashlee joined the Pacific Design team full time in 2019, after spending many summers and school vacations answering phones and helping in the office. Now she is developing her skills and natural talent as a designer, working closely with customers to bring their dreams to life. From a customer’s initial point of contact to on-site measuring, full drawings, contract signing, delivery and follow-up, Ashlee loves it all.
“Every single day I have an experience that’s so satisfying in serving people. Everyone is fun to work with, and they come in looking for help with things like usability and layout, material choices and appliances – things we can solve so well. It’s incredibly fulfilling.”
Ashlee loves to cook, which gives her plenty of time to finely tune her kitchen usability instincts. She and her partner, Dominic, spend a lot of time working on home projects, gardening, camping and hanging out with Duke, their dog.