After roughly four decades of kitchens, renovations, early mornings and countless conversations, Marlene Vlaanderen is ready for something she has never tried before — retirement.
Vlaanderen has closed Rideau Kitchen Centre, bringing an end to a long career serving homeowners, contractors and families in Smiths Falls and well beyond.
There have been plenty of changes along the way. Cabinet styles evolved, hidden hinges became the norm and customers’ tastes moved with the times.
But when Vlaanderen looks back, it isn’t the kitchens she talks about first.
It’s the people.
Those relationships were built over decades of working directly with customers, often inside their homes and during some of the biggest renovation projects they would ever undertake.
Vlaanderen originally grew up in Perth, where Smiths Falls was once considered the rival down the road.
That changed.
After spending time in larger centres including Toronto and Barrie, Vlaanderen found herself appreciating something different about doing business back home.
In Smiths Falls, she says, relationships could still be personal. Customers became familiar faces. Trust mattered. Conversations mattered.
That connection became as much a part of Rideau Kitchen Centre as the products it sold.
Vlaanderen worked long days, evening appointments and five-and-a-half-day weeks for years. She has also been working in one form or another since she was 16.
So what comes next?
For once, she doesn’t have a schedule.
There may be travel. There may be some boredom. Mostly, Vlaanderen says she plans to see where retirement takes her.
But there is one thing she already knows she will miss.
Over the years, Blaanderen also made a point of giving back when she could, becoming part of the business community she served.
Rideau Kitchen Centre may now be closed, but four decades of kitchens across the region tell part of its story.
The rest can be found in the people Vlaanderen met along the way.
And after a career built around helping other people make their houses feel more like home, she finally has a little more time to enjoy her own.
