Photo courtesy Dracut Economic Development: (left to right) : From left at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for KRANE Homes on August 12 are Evie Ivos, owner of the plaza; Meaghan St. Jean, member of Dracut’s Economic Development Committee; Faith Men; Aiden Young; owners Kendra and Teddy Men; Lowell Mayor Sokhary Chau, a longtime friend of the Mens; Teddy’s parents, Nhem Ngeth and Hoeurh Men; and Dracut Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Alison Genest
DRACUT — KRANE Homes opened its doors at the Papanotas Plaza, 1095 Lakeview Avenue, on August 12, with a block-party atmosphere that saw several other businesses in the plaza join in the festivities.
Among those joining the celebration were VTEX Strength & Fitness, Get Right Nutrition and Lupine Designs, all caught up in the infectious excitement of KRANE Homes co-owner Kendra Men.
Men and her husband, Vannak “Teddy” Men, already own Dracut-based Men Construction, and they’re transitioning the business into KRANE Homes.
The storefront in the plaza at Lakeview Avenue and Pleasant Street, which is the result of the vision of Steve Papanotas and architect Philippe Thibault, acts as a showroom for some of the products KRANE offers folks who are interested in rehabbing their home, or if they want to try their hand at flipping a home.
Inside the KRANE Homes Showroom (photo courtesy Dracut Economic Development)
“We plan to grow this into a place where people can come and feel safe in partnering up in flipping homes,” Kendra said. “We’ll help them flip a home without having an ownership stake in it.”
Teddy and Kendra started Men Construction eight years ago when they moved to Dracut. Teddy was a building inspector in Chelmsford at the time, but he wanted to operate his own business.
“We started with a gutter business, then started doing decks,” Kendra said. “From there, we got into home remodeling, then we got into helping people flip homes.”
Inside the KRANE Homes Showroom (photo courtesy Dracut Economic Development)
Tired of hearing about construction contractors scamming elderly people out of their money without doing the promised work, Kendra wanted to refocus the business to provide potential customers with a place to come and visualize what they wanted their home to look like.
“I wanted to be a woman-owned business that allows other women to feel comfortable in coming in to see what’s available to them if they’re trying to flip a home,” she said. “A lot of people get screwed over by contractors. There are people out there who don’t think twice about cheating elderly people out of their money. I know people who have been screwed over. I want them to be able to come in and work with us and not get scammed.”
The showroom at KRANE Homes features model sinks, counters, baths and more. They offer financing up to $250,000.
Kendra grew up in Canada in a family of 11 kids and not much money. She came to Lowell 10 years ago and met Teddy, who grew up in Lowell.
Inside the KRANE Homes Showroom (photo courtesy Dracut Economic Development)
“My parents had nothing,” she said. “We’d always watch the HGTV channel with hopes and dreams of being able to do the things people were doing with their homes. We were always saying, ‘If we could just tap into that market.’ But we didn’t know who to trust.
“I want to be somebody who can create something and be trustworthy.”
For more information on KRANE Homes, call 978-726-7888, email sales@kranehomes.com, or visit www.kranehomes.com.
Dan Phelps is the Economic Development Planner for the Town of Dracut.
