When Bill Langen moved from Ontario in 1979, freshly married with a 10-day-old baby boy in tow, he didn’t know what to expect from this new life in the West. The economy was booming, the construction industry was robust and Langen set out to take full advantage of the opportunities in Calgary by establishing his company, Artistic Stairs & Railings.
“I said to my wife, Judy, if we can have eight or 10 people working with us, we can scratch out a living,” says President and Founder Bill Langen. “I never dreamed we’d build the company to what we have today.”
Artistic Stairs started with a small space in Calgary and expanded to include a branch in Edmonton. With the help of his mentor, friend, esteemed entrepreneur and partner, Cecil Hoffman, the company grew organically away from importing products from Eastern Canada and the United States and into manufacturing its own custom wood-spindled railings. By 1989, Langen was able to purchase a 31,000-square-foot facility in southeast Calgary that allowed for more manufacturing, and then an addition in 2004 expanding it to 77,500 square feet of office, manufacturing and showroom space that better accommodated the needs of Artistic Stairs’ rapidly growing client base.
The key to this rapid, sustainable growth has been the people who saw Langen’s vision and jumped on board to help him realize it. Langen has built a strong group of 115 dedicated professionals between both of the branches in Calgary and Edmonton, all of whom are invested in the success and growth of the company. They work as a team to innovate new designs and novel ways of doing things to ensure they are building incredible, efficient products that stand out in the market. Langen is fiercely proud of his team whose high-quality craftsmanship and vast industry knowledge have elevated Artistic Stairs from being a construction trade to becoming a valued partner to their impressive list of long-time clients throughout the Alberta market.
“I can steer the company in the right direction but it’s our people who we have working with us that really have made the company what it is today. I’m very thankful for that. Without them, there is no company,” he says.
With 35 per cent of the staff boasting more than 15 years with the company, and some dedicating 40 years and counting to Artistic Stairs, there are few stair or railing challenges that the team hasn’t seen or done before. Craig Rempel is one of those valued ‘lifers’ who joined the company in 1985 as a teenager, learning at the elbow of his father who was one of Artistic Stairs’ best installers. Over the years, Rempel acquired knowledge of nearly every aspect of the business, moving from installations to running the shipping department, becoming the lead estimator and then working in sales before throwing his hat in the ring to fill the GM position. Now he oversees both the Calgary and Edmonton operations and uses his decades of experience to streamline the business to make it even more successful.
“Technology is the way to increase our capacity and how we can be more effective, more efficient and stay in front of the curve,” says Craig Rempel, VP Operations. “But at the end of the day, the future is all about growth.”
The company has grown alongside the Alberta market, staying at the forefront of emerging technology that is largely lacking in construction companies. Marc Picton, VP of Business Development, has spent most of his career in sales and while he oversees the sales team at both locations, he is also integrating new equipment and technology as well as new products into Artistic Stairs’ day-to-day. Picton is a young professional who relishes pushing the boundaries, incorporating any combination of wood, metal, stainless steel and glass into their designs to ensure they are meeting the evolving needs of their wide range of clients.
“We’re trying to point at the entire market now, so anywhere from your townhome that has plywood stairs that get covered up by hardwood or carpet, all the way to your $10-million homes that have custom-made steel stringers with wood treads and glass. We cover each individual part of the market: renovations, new homes, designers, architects, builders,” says Picton.
The full-service company is proud to offer custom products manufactured inhouse from materials that are sourced locally, installed by Alberta professionals and managed by a team of long-time Albertans. Langen also supported local businesses and for years bought mouldings from a nearby Calgary company while also developing a strong relationship with its plant manager, Bill Crawford. The ex-army diesel mechanic and wood machinist from Glasgow, Scotland, emigrated to Calgary in 1998, where his skillset found him quick work at the mouldings shop. When he mentioned over lunch in 2016 that he was looking for a professional change, Langen saw an opportunity that would benefit them both. He created an inhouse mouldings division and turned Crawford loose to build it using his 30 years of experience in the field. Artistic Specialty Mouldings (ASMouldings) filled a hole in Artistic Stairs’ business model and quickly became a significant growth area for the company.
“In the start, it was baseboards and crown moulding, and now we’re doing a lot of compound curved moulding. There’s almost no one left in the market that can do that kind of work so we’re becoming the main company for curves,” says Bill Crawford, VP of Manufacturing.
This division supplies Artistic Stairs & Railings with all of its wood stair and railing products while filling the void created by the exodus of local shops offering specialty mouldings; custom home builders, kitchen suppliers, millwork shops and commercial clients all look to ASMouldings to bridge that gap in the market, and the talented team is happy to oblige.
With the extensive experience of the team at Artistic Stairs & Railings and the growing capabilities of ASMouldings, the company made a strategic investment in both the technology and training to launch a dedicated construction grade stair division. This addition rounds out a comprehensive offering that now includes every type of stair, from plywood stairs for the multifamily and high-volume builder to finished grade solid wood for high-end homes, or even custom metal and glass designs. With a full-service metal fabrication and powder coating facility, inhouse specialty mouldings and well-established locations in both Edmonton and Calgary, Artistic Stairs & Railings has positioned itself as Alberta’s go-to choice for high quality stair and railing solutions.
Artistic Stairs has earned this stellar reputation for quality construction and service, and it continues to lead the way forward in the field. Langen is thankful for the loyalty and trust clients place with the company and he has installed a talented, experienced leadership team to ensure Artistic Stairs continues to earn that trust for another 45 years. Marc Picton, Craig Rempel and Bill Crawford are all now shareholders in the company with a plan to acquire additional shares over time.
“They are the future of the company,” says Langen, who will gradually step back to allow his leadership team to carry the company into the next chapter. “There is a plan in place to move forward and to continue to grow into the future.”
With a long history of excellence in the Alberta market and a leadership team forging a path in new areas of the business as well as building on its original expertise, that future is sure to be a bright one at Artistic Stairs & Railings.
Calgary
3504 80 Ave SE
(403) 279-5898
Edmonton
17320 108 Ave NW
(780) 489-5591
