Randy’s Made was cited in the 2024 Minnesota Manufacturing Awards as a Manufacturer of the Year.
Bert Kissoondath is CEO of Randy’s Booth Co. Inc. His father, Randy, started building restaurant booths after immigrating to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s. Due to health problems, he was forced to sell the successful business and take a 13-year break.
Bert Kissoondath, CEO of Randy’s Booth Co. Inc., holds a photo of his dad who started the company at age 17 before he left Trinidad for America.
When he returned, he founded Randy’s Booth Co. Inc. and recruited his son, Bert Kissoondath, to help him rebuild the manufacturing company. Bert started from scratch, sweeping the shop, building frames and delivering finished pieces, which included booths, chairs, tables and other furnishings for the hospitality industry.
Sadly, Randy died of a heart attack less than two years after launching Randy’s Booth Co. At the funeral, Bert made a promise to his father that he would keep the business alive and successful.
Fifteen years later, Crystal-based Randy’s Booth Co. continues to grow based on Randy’s framework and a devout following of designers, architects and builders.
“I haven’t changed my father’s recipe from over 40 years ago,” Bert Kissoondath said. “We still build the same quality product that made him successful.”
He said the company balances custom craftsmanship with business growth by sticking to the basics and building each project with the best components. The company’s projects, which range from restaurants to corporate offices and health care clinics, are all made by hand using solid hardwood, and the frames are delivered with a lifetime warranty.
Kissoondath doesn’t run the company like an average manufacturing plant. All 25 employees have their own key to the building and take pride in their work.
An employee at Randy’s Booth Co. Inc. upholsters a seat for a booth by hand.
“The biggest success of the business is my employees,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without them.”
The company will soon have more employees as Kissoondath plans to add a second studio on the West Coast to better serve its customer base there.
Speaking of customers, they are a big motivator for Kissoondath.
“I’m most inspired when we deliver to a restaurant and see the customer happy to see the details of what we do,” he said.
Customers haven’t been the only ones who have recognized the company’s quality products and success. The U.S. Small Business Administration named Randy’s Booth Co. Minnesota’s Family-Owned Business of the Year in 2018.
