“Community Alley” Featured in SFBW
Bill Feinberg combines what’s good for business with building brotherhood
It’s fitting that Bill Feinberg, the new chairman of Habitat for Humanity of Broward, was back in Philadelphia when SFBW called. Feinberg has long channeled the spirit of brotherly love by giving back to the community as leader of Allied Kitchen & Bath in Fort Lauderdale.
Feinberg grew up in Philadelphia and moved to South Florida in 1975; he was soon joined by his brother and longtime business partner, Joe, and their two other brothers.
All four brothers once worked for the same home remodeling business, and it wasn’t long before Feinberg saw the opportunity to start a business of his own. He and Joe, who worked together in Philadelphia in everything from window washing to painting, launched Allied Kitchen & Bath in 1984. “It was time to move on,” Feinberg says about those early years. “I formed Allied, and my brothers came with me, and we’ve been growing ever since, slow and steady.” He adds that he’s very cautious, taking a slow-pace approach in order to deliver the best service possible; revenue is expected to rise about 15 percent this year to about $10 million.
Feinberg also built his 15,000-square-foot showroom at 616 W. Oakland Park Boulevard from the ground up in 2008. After emerging anew from the shadow of the recession, Allied is now in the process of building a new showroom, dedicated to “everything for the outside,” including gourmet kitchens. Feinberg projects the job, which will produce a block-long designer showroom in the heart of the evolving Oakland Park Culinary Arts District, will be completed by the end of the year.
The spirit of brotherly love and a commitment to quality and concierge-style customer service are also central to Feinberg’s mission to make Broward County a better place. For more than 15 years, he’s been helping Habitat for Humanity, donating salvageable kitchen and bath fixtures and appliances from homes under renovation to be sold at Habitat’s ReStore. Sales from ReStore go toward building homes for low-income families that can’t qualify for conventional financing, but are willing to work hard to improve their families’ lives.
“For us, it was a win-win situation,” Feinberg says. “It’s a great way to recycle what we had that was good. After the first couple of years, we had enough to build a house.” Now, Allied sometimes sends a truckload of supplies in one week.
Feinberg, who has been on the board of Habitat five years, says, “Becoming board chair is truly an honor for me. As a company and individually, I have made a commitment to ‘pay it forward’ and give back as much as possible to our community.” Along with his family and staff, Feinberg has hosted more than 100 charitable events in recent years.
Beyond his contributions to fulfilling home improvement dreams for his clients and homeownership dreams for those served by Habitat for Humanity, what’s left for him to repair and rebuild? “We’ve got to teach others how to be great partners for our community as well,” Feinberg says. “I think we all need to do more when it comes to local charitable organizations, and we need more successful companies to get involved and give back to our community.”
