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From
college project to successful business: Linn's Prestige Kitchens celebrates 30th
July 09, 2011
Dusty Ricketts
Daily News
FORT WALTON BEACH — In 1981, John Linn was finishing up his bachelor’s degree in
business management at University of West Florida.
For his final project, he and some classmates came up with a business plan for a cabinetry
and remodeling company called Prestige Kitchens. His wife Sherrie designed the company’s
logo for them.
The business plan turned out so well that the Linns used it to start their real business
after graduation called Linn’s Prestige Kitchens and Baths. The company is now
celebrating its 30th anniversary.
“When you’re young and trying to figure out what to do, you just dive in and start
working,” Sherrie Linn said. “We started when Johnny just had a little blue pickup
truck and some door samples and he would go around and call on builders and ask them to
give us a chance. I would draw the plans and do the design work at home at night before we
had an office.”
The company has grown to include showrooms in Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Pensacola. It
employs more than 30 people.
Most of their work comes from new construction, remodeling or commercial projects. Linn’s
Prestige Kitchens has done custom work for TYBRIN Corp., O’Sullivan Creel accounting
firm and the South Walton Fire District.
About 20 years ago, the company started selling appliances so customers could have all of
their remodeling needs met at one location, Sherrie Linn said.
Linn’s has won more than 20 national design awards for clients’ homes. The company
also has remodeled second homes for local clients in Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana and as
far away as San Francisco.
Linn’s currently is featured in the summer issue of the national publication Renovation
Style Magazine, profiling a kitchen and bath renovation the company completed in
Pensacola.
“We carry a lot of different product price points,” Sherrie Linn said. “Whether you’re
a first-time home buyer starting out or it’s your last luxury home that you really want
a gourmet kitchen and luxury bath, we’ve got all of the high-end products as well as the
starter products. When we design something, the client actually gets to pick the budget
they want to be in.”
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